The Japanese Garden

Bookwatch, The, July, 2005

The Japanese Garden

Seiko Goto

Peter Lang Publishing USA

275 Seventh Ave., 28th fl, NY, NY 10001

www.peterlangusa.com

0820463507 $39.95 1-800-770-5264

Written by a practicing landscape architect and scholar of East Asian and European garden history, The Japanese Garden: Gateway To The Human Spirit is a beautiful tour of spiritual gardens in Japanese temple precincts. Covering gardens connected to Shinto, Buddhist, and Confucianist traditions, The Japanese Garden offers black-and-white photographs, diagrams of garden layouts, and in-depth discussion of how each garden incorporated the spiritual traditions connected to its cultivation. An excellent orientation to the view, function, and flow of traditional Japanese gardens, whether they were designed to be walked in or simply observed, The Japanese Garden is a superb source of both reference and inspiration for garden designers of all skill and experience levels.