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Japanese Gardening / 日本の園芸

Forum Reviews

Japanese Gardening Books & Reviews
Suggested books and review by members of the Japanese Gardening Forum

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	The Art of Japanese Gardens Herb Gustafson It is a wonderful book. - Gregory John
	The Art of the Japanese Garden David Young & Michiko Young I recently picked up The Art of the Japanese Garden, by David and Michiko Young. The book starts with an overview of the very early history of the political and social development of Japan from the Jomon period through to the Meiji. (not to worry, only a couple of pages). Then into the development of the early gardens. Elements and Principles come next. Stones, structures, ornaments, water features, layout etc. The book then goes into a section with 24 traditional gardens, 3 Tokyo stroll gardens, 2 Meiji, 2 Showa, all with a short history and overview of each garden. The book ends with 3 Japanese Gardens outside of Japan and a small read on modern residential gardens. The book is well illustrated and loaded with excellent quality photographs. One particular feature I liked were the three quarter perspective drawings of each of the gardens that are outlined in the book. Definitely recommended! Al White
	The Art of Setting Stones Marc Peter Keane This book is a collection of essays by Marc Keane exploring the philosophical side of Japanese gardens. While having little to nothing to do with the actual task of setting stones, it made me feel I was in Kyoto, sitting in the garden, experiencing the deepest essence of that special place. I recommend this one for anyone with a love of Japanese gardens, whether you have been to Japan or not. It is pure magic - Don Pylant
	Building Bamboo Fences Isao Yoshikawa I have found "Building Bamboo Fences" by Isao Yoshikawa to be a very good book for both design and techniques - Frank Tree.
	Courtyard Gardens of Kyoto's Merchant Houses Katsuhiko Mizuno Still reading this one, but so far, it provides a wonderfully illustrated evolution of machiya architecture in Kyoto, from reconstruction to modern day use, and the effect on their gardens. It has a simple primer on merchant house styles and visits examples of the gardens of many merchant houses. The photographs are excellent and the inspiration is top notch! - Don Pylant (See the combined review of this book and Hidden Gardens of Kyoto below)
	Creating Japanese Gardens Philip Cave, Geoffrey Jellicoe I almost didn't get Cave's book but it is truly beautiful. - Gregory John
	Create Your Own Japanese Garden Motomi Oguchi, Joseph Cali As the extended title indicates, it's a practical guide. Oguchi indicates that one should read it through before deciding on design - and he is right. This is a really good book; going through step by step decisions from problems of the site to solutions of why what was chosen. Japanese words that are useful to know are used throughout, and with reading through, even the chapter on "The Weed Garden" is a valuable lesson in garden making and in how to save money, time and 'design stress'. A chapter on Tea Gardens:Tree Gardens... this is nowhere near the 'do it in a weekend', yet makes anything do-able right from the beginning. I have found that I needed to read some chapters twice and probably again just to allow the components to inter-relate from garden to garden examples. Diagrams of construction details, practical advice, along with explanations of word and conceptual origins. Fences, gates, paths, streams, ponds, bamboo work.. really easy to read until one realizes there is more than than first met the brain. The jacket itself is from Oguchi-sensei's own teahouse that he had moved from Kyoto, revamped and the garden built. Thanks to both author's in bringing this book translation to English. I would say this is a 'must have' and will leave that as today's understatement. - Edzard Teubert
	Enhance Your Garden with Japanese Plants Judy Glattstein An introduction to and history of Japanese plants in America is followed by sections describing and providing cultivation information. - Gregory John
	The Garden Art of Japan Masao Hayakawa It has some striking pictures - a few colour plates, but the rest of the pictures are in black and white. One of the most powerful pictures is of the stone arrangement in the upper garden, Saiho-ji, Kyoto. The author writes of it as '...a crystallization of the spirit of the great priest Muso Soseki - a spirit that truly revolutionized Japanese garden design in the medieval age.' A little further on, he refers to the upper garden as representing 'the deeply ascetic outlook of Zen.....' Chapter 4 is entitled 'The World Of The Dry-Landscape Garden and the sub-heading 'Gardens for Zen Discipline'. It begins - 'Muso Soseki attempted to give physical form to his Zen Philosophy in the dry-landscape garden of Saiho-ji and the dry waterfall stone group in the garden of Tenryu-ji. Such gardens are in themselves a means towards Zen self-examination, spiritual refinement and ultimate enlightenment. They therefore belong to a dimension of creativity entirely different (my underlining) from that of gardens designed for pleasure or for the gratification of aesthetic tastes......' I found it difficult to put the book down. - Gregory John
	Gardening The Japanese Way Sima Eliovson A big book with lots of color pictures and lots of advice on all aspects of Japanese style gardening. - Gregory John
	The Gardens of Japan Teiji Itoh Professor Itoh describes the history and explains various types of Japanese gardens. Specific gardens are described and photographed like the famous Saiho-hi and the temple Shinju-an at Daitoku-ji in Kyoto. In one chapter, the charateristics of 50 gardens in Japan are described. The main quality of this book is its stunning, large format photography which is the main quality of this book, the photography. You get the impression that you are in the gardens when you browse through the book. If you have seen this book you are convinced of the qualities of a Japanese garden. Ton
	Gardens in Japan Mizuno Katsuhiko Recommended by Jake Hobson. No review has been submitted.
	The Hidden Gardens of Kyoto Masaaki Ono An inspirational collection of photos of palace, shrine, temple, tea school, villa, inn and restaurant gardens. Absolutely gorgeous. This one stays out on my table all the time. - Gregory John I own several books on Japanese Gardening and can honestly say there are not many that bring anything new. These books are different. Most of the 100+ illustrations are of private gardens or obscure business's. I am no scholar of Japanese Gardening but my instincts tell me the gardens of Kyoto are quite unique, even to Japanese Gardeners. There seems to be a sense of simplicity, even sparseness, to Kyoto Gardens. Both books focus on uncommon gardens with a little bit reserved for history, design, etc. Neither of the books are a “How to.” The books I own are hard back at around $60 USD each, but well worth it. - Cyberous
	Infinite Spaces Joe Earle Pairs quotations from an ancient writing the Sakuteiki on garden design with exquisite photos that illuminate the words. - Gregory John
	Japanese Courtyard Gardens Haruzo Ohashi A beautiful picture book that gives a nice sampling of small gardens -- including those in private residences hotels and inns and temples/shrines. - Gregory John
	Japanese Garden Construction Samuel Newsom No review has been submitted.
	Japanese Garden Design Marc P. Keane, Haruzo Ohashi Reading such a smooth introduction to Japanese gardens was a pleasurable experience. - Gregory John
	A Japanese Garden Journey: Through Ancient Stones and Dragon Bones Judith Klingsick I know it is a small hardcover book: 44 pages. - Gregory John It is a pleasant booklet of 48 or so pages with pictures from North American Japanese gardens. But I wouldn't call it a journey - maybe a field trip. - Don Pylant
	Japanese Stone Gardens Isao Yoshikawa No review posted
	Japanese Gardens Gunter Nitzske Has wonderful photos of classic garden concepts - Gregory John

	Japanese Gardens Josiah Conder No review has been submitted.
	The Japanese Tea Garden Marc Peter Keane This book is not yet released, but you may pre-order here. Your purchase originating from this page will benefit japanesegardening.org. I do have the Japanese/English "The Tea Garden" by Haruzo Ohashi, the co-author of "Japanese Garden Design" with Marc Keane. I dont know if we can assume another joint effort, but the photographs are fantastic. - Don Pylant
	A Japanese Touch for your Garden Kiyoshi Seike Masanobu Kudo, David H. Engel Has a wealth of practical information. - Gregory John
	Landscape Gardening in Japan Josiah Conder This book has numerous reproductions of the black-and-white woodblock prints from these Edo period gardening manuals, as well as fascinating photos of famous (plus some just plain weird) gardens taken during the Meiji era. (For instance, see Kinkakuji with the pond choked with aquatic weeds on page 171). A really fun book for reference (would not recommend using it to design a garden) - Gregory John
	Landscapes For Small Spaces Katsuhiko Mizuno No review has been submitted.
	Magic of Trees and Stones Katsuo Saito, Sadaji Wada just quite simply the best book(english language) on the subject. Jumps right into the middle of things with a pretty good explanation of "shibusa", really good pictures particularly with shin/gyo/so paths, nice planning and construction drawings. - Michael Brenner
	Niwaki Jake Hobson Well written and well done! I have not encountered a western book that addresses these techniques. Jake, you've neatly, simply explained them. I really would have appreciated this book 30 years ago. Not a 'science' book, but a workhorse or more correctly a working tool, providing a framework for what may be done in North America by addressing what is done in Japan. Simply put, this book needs to be out in the garden working with you. - Edzard Teubert Taken from Edzard Teubert's review on the forum under "Papers & Pubs"
	Sakuteiki Visions of the Japanese Garden Jiro takei, Marc P. Keane No review has been submitted.
	Secret Teachings in the Art of Japanese Gardens David A. Slawson What sets this work apart is its depth and focus on unraveling the underlying design principles and its intent on providing a deeper understanding into the art of Japanese gardening. - Gregory John
	Themes in the History of Japanese Garden Art Wybe Kuitert (ISBN 0-8248-2312-5) The best English-language treatment of Japanese garden history available. It's a bit hard to work through, but that's partly due to the meatiness of the material. I found it worked perfectly well to read its chapters out of order, following any thread I was particularly interested in. The index and bibliography (both J & E) are excellent and Wybe gives a very extensive glossary including kanji/kana. - Gregory John
	Zen Gardening Sunniva Harte Those of you turned off by reference to a Zen reference to Japanese gardens, get past that and understand this book's focus on the calming and healing properties of gardens. I would strongly recommend this book for inspirational value. - Don Pylant
Japanese Tools
	Okatsune Pruners These pruners are used and highly praised by some Japanese Gardening Forum members.
	Gomboy 210 Saw These saws are used and highly praised by some Japanese Gardening Forum members.
	Okatsune Hedge Shears I will be honest and say I never developed a feel for the traditional Japanese mongata shears (the ones with the long handles and loose fitting blades). But that is my error and not the fault of the shears. Okatsune makes this 7 5/8" bladed shear that I love. The blades stay sharp as long as you don't let anyone use them as pruners! I have used them for hours. The blade fit is more western like scissors, not loose like iron shears. 30" overall length. Don Pylant
Tea and Tea Cuisine
	Cha-No-Yu A. L. Sadler A book on the Way of Tea. No review posted
	Kaiseki: Zen Tastes in Japanese Cooking Kaichi Tsuji This book is a great overview of Urasenke Kaiseki with great photos of food in museum quality dishes. - Elliot
	Kaiseki: Zen Tastes in Japanese Cooking Kaichi Tsuji This book speaks on food arrangement and is excellent. - Elliot
Japanese Language Books
	A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar Seiichi Makino, Michio Tsutsui This book is not reviewed yet.
	A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar Seiichi Makino, Michio Tsutsui This book is not reviewed yet.
Japanese Carpentry
	The Genius of Japanese Carpentry Azby Brown Japanese carpentry. No review posted
	Measure and Construction of the Japanese House Heino Engel The book gives not only elevation drawings ala blueprint style, but very good line drawings covering everything you might be able to think of. I firmly believe there is sufficient information here to build a Japanese style house right from scratch. So if you want to build something, I would certainly recommend this book. - Keith Elliot
Miscellaneous
	The Tale of Genji Murasaki Shikibu No review posted.
	Amazon Gift Certificate Any amount from $5 to $50,000 can be printed, mailed, or emailed to your recipient.

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日本の園芸 | Japanese Gardening