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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 The Best Introduction to Japanese GardensFeb 17, 2010
This is the most serious and complete of the 10 books I own covering Japanese Gardens. Everything is carefully laid out and well written. The photos by Haruzo Ohashi, drawings (by the author), and design by John Einarsen are noteworthy by themselves, but as a whole blend and complement the text perfectly. It ends with an excellent glossary, timeline, and even a plant list. As his drawings clearly show, Marc Peter Keane is a man who looks deeply into nature and design and thinks about what he sees. As a keen gardener and lover of art history, I've visited about 20 gardens in Japan, and this book, more than any other, gives the reader a clear idea of what these gardens feel like, not only a dry description of who did what when and with what materials. This isn't a do it yourself manual for westerners who want to start dropping rocks and spreading gravel in their gardens. Deeper, more difficult questions are answered - like why do these gardens look like they do, and how have they changed over the years. If the gardens he designs are as good as this book, I'd love him to create a garden at Galeazza one day.
0 of 10 found the following review helpful:
 HorribleFeb 14, 2009
I never received this product and I am rather angry about the fact that no one has been helpful in communicating with me after countless efforts of trying to find out where it is.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 Educational, not the Best for InspirationMar 03, 2008
I bought a number of books on Japanese Gardens, because I like visiting them and wanted to make one of my own. I found this book to be more of a textbook than the rest; it is heavy on history and theory but is somewhat dull. If you want to be inspired, you probably don't want a book that uses endnotes. There is nothing wrong with it, but I found the Art of Japanese Gardens to be more balanced in terms of photos/inspiration and text. This is more thorough in terms of history and theory and less so with beautiful and varied photographs. In designing my own garden, I ultimately could have done without this book, though if you are fascinated by theory and history, it is probably the most comprehensive. If you're buying one book only to help inspire and educate, I'd go with the Art of Japanese Gardens.
4 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Best Monograph on the Japanese Garden in PrintApr 01, 2006
Of all the monographs on Japanese garden design, this book provides the best overview of the underlying cultural context that has been the basis for its development.
While this book does not desribe individual gardens in detail, it adresses both the historical context and the many other influences that have shaped the aesthetic of the Japanese garden. More so than in any previous monograph, Marc Peter Keane points out the influences of Japan's prehistoric period, Shintoism and Buddhism as it relates to the veneration of landscape and nature.
He also describes the effect that geomancy, poetry and ink brush painting had on the evolution of garden prototypes and subject matter. Beyond that he pays special attention to the physical setting, architectural context, aesthetics, social and economical environment in which each of the garden prototypes evolved into todays classifications.
The book is beautifully ilustrated with a large number of color photographs and drawings by the author, that support and visualize the points made in the well-written text. I believe this is currently the best monograph, in that it gives an excellent introduction to the Japanes garden and its cultural heritage to international audiences, without getting lost in the description of details of individual gardens or the symbolic meanings attributed to specific design elements.
13 of 14 found the following review helpful:
Probably the best English language source available!Mar 25, 2004
Marc Keane, the other author of this exellent book, is a professor at Kyoto University, and educates students in Japanese garden design. Other good background material on Japanese gardens includes: "Sakuteiki: Visions of the Japanese Garden" (a trans. of an 11th cent. Japanese scroll), also written by Marc Keane, with Jiro Takei; and "Secret Teachings in the Art of Japanese Gardening" ( another ancient scroll trans.), by David Slawson. A very useful "how-to" book is: "Creating Japanese Gardens", by Phillip Cave. "A Japanese Touch for your Garden," by Seike, Kudo and Engel, also supplies the meat-and-potatoes. You can pick up many helpful details in pictures found in the "coffee-table" books available. Haruzo Ohashi, who did the photography for "Japanese Garden Design," has done outstanding photographic work for several other books in this category. If you are a "back-yard-gardener" like me, all of these books will just be the starting point. You will learn that there are several distinct styles of Japanese gardens. However, there are no hard rules. Elements of the basic styles can be incorporated into your garden. The finished product: "your interpretation of the Japanese Garden" (what works for you), will be well worth the effort. It was for me. Just remember that in the Japanese garden "less is often more." Every open space does not have to be filled with a rock, a plant or an ornament. Step back and look at each element that you incorporate. Make sure that each item compliments your whole design. This is the essence of the project. Good Luck and Have Fun!
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based on 10 reviews
