Japanese Stone Gardens Origins, Meaning & Form [Hardcover]

Gain some new ideas along with the principles and history of Japanese stone gardening with this useful and beautiful garden design book.

Japanese Stone Gardensprovides a comprehensive introduction to the powerful mystique and dynamism of the Japanese stone garden—from their earliest use as props in animistic rituals, to their appropriation by Zen monks and priests to create settings conducive to contemplation and finally to their contemporary uses and meaning. With insightful text and abundant imagery, this book reveals the hidden order of stone gardens and in the process heightens the enthusiast's appreciation of them.

The Japanese stone garden is an art form recognized around the globe. These meditative gardens provide tranquil settings, where visitors can shed the burdens and stresses of modern existence, satisfy an age-old yearning for solitude and repose, and experience the restorative power of art and nature. For this reason, the value of the Japanese stone garden today is arguably even greater than when many of them were created.

Fifteen gardens are featured in this book: some well known, such as the famous temple gardens of Kyoto, others less so, among them gardens spread through the south of Honshu Island and the southern islands of Shikoku and Kyushu and in faraway Okinawa. This survey of the best of Japan's stone gardens may send you into the sort of fugue state in which you wake up to find yourself floating through the airport, boarding pass in hand. —New York TimesStephen Mansfieldis a British writer and photojournalist whose work has appeared in over 60 magazines, newspapers and journals worldwide. He is the author of several books, includingJapan: Islands of the Floating World, Japan's Master GardensandTokyo: A Biography. He currently resides in Japan, where he is a regular book reviewer forThe Japan Times. He has also become an authority on Japanese gardens and lc2