Status
Available
Call number
Collections
Publication
Kodansha USA (2002), Edition: 1, 136 pages
Description
This highly illustrated colour guide to the courtyard gardens of Japan comprises 100 colour photographs, each accompanied by an explanatory caption detailing the location and outstanding characteristics of each garden. An appendix offers practical information on re-creating the Japanese garden. Enjoy it for its sheer beauty or use it for inspiration while creating your own small landscape garden. Japanese gardening is the art of arranging plants, rocks, lanterns, and basins in an open or, as here, an enclosed space. According to the aesthetic principles long
User reviews
LibraryThing member klaidlaw
A beautifully photographed book that provides some inspirational photos for building a tsuboniwa or small courtyard garden. The author provides a nice history of the courtyard gardens of Kyoto, and explains the differences between private and public examples. He also goes into detail about his
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design for a specific garden in a townhouse. Show Less
LibraryThing member sweetsapling
A lovely photography book about a certain kind of traditional Japanese garden: they're smaller and typically occur in courtyards within or between buildings. The photographs do an excellent job of conveying the sensibility and traditions of this particular garden type, and they cover a wide range
There is some introductory text as well as an epilogue describing how the author, who is also a designer of Japanese gardens, created one of the gardens shown in the book. I found myself wanting, if anything, a bit more text all around, but then again the photos were so interesting that I didn't want less of them, either.
The topic itself is fascinating and interesting, especially to me as a native of a culture where environment and building are kept much more separate than in traditional Japanese architecture. The very idea of a guest room or hallway that opens directly onto a courtyard, lush and filled with trees and plants, is foreign literally and emotional, but deeply appealing too. I can't get enough of reading about it.
Finally, I enjoy the cover of this book so much that I have had it propped up on my dressed for a couple weeks now.
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of types, from stark or refined palace gardens and monastery gardens of gravel and rock to lush and relatively crowded private gardens of merchant houses, and all sorts of permutations and variations of location and style. I appreciated that the photographer did not always present the most accessible views of the gardens shown--for example some shots showed gardens covered in snow so that it took some effort to discern the garden's qualities. Each photograph is accompanied by a caption about the garden's location, some of its components, and notable qualities or features.There is some introductory text as well as an epilogue describing how the author, who is also a designer of Japanese gardens, created one of the gardens shown in the book. I found myself wanting, if anything, a bit more text all around, but then again the photos were so interesting that I didn't want less of them, either.
The topic itself is fascinating and interesting, especially to me as a native of a culture where environment and building are kept much more separate than in traditional Japanese architecture. The very idea of a guest room or hallway that opens directly onto a courtyard, lush and filled with trees and plants, is foreign literally and emotional, but deeply appealing too. I can't get enough of reading about it.
Finally, I enjoy the cover of this book so much that I have had it propped up on my dressed for a couple weeks now.
Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
136 p.; 11.9 inches
ISBN
4770028741 / 9784770028747
Call number
250