Reviews for A Path Through the Japanese Garden

The average rating for A Path Through the Japanese Garden based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2017-01-30 00:00:00 Lisa Swift An impressive and informative history of Japanese gardens, both sacred and secular. Many of Japan's best gardens are covered in detail with helpful diagrams and photographs illustrating characteristic techniques and artistic devices. The Daikakuju Temple and pond is one of the oldest pleasure gardens, constructed around 834 (Heian Period). The palace is gone, but Osawa Lake survives as the oldest known chisen style garden--designed to be enjoyed from a boat. Here is the Daikakuju Temple dragon boat on the night of the harvest moon. Osawa Lake, Daikakuju Temple, Kyoto Gravel courtyards have a very ancient history in Japan, going back to prehistoric times. The pebble courtyards of the Ise Shinto shrines are the oldest that retain the ancient pattern. With the introduction of Buddhism, the gravel courtyard was retained as a way of delineating sacred space, but Chinese architectural elements were introduced as seen here in Horuyuji Temple, the oldest wooden building in the world, dating from 739. With time, the simple boating lakes evolved into elaborately constructed stroll gardens, or gardens designed for contemplation. Ponds continued to play an important artistic and symbolic role in Japanese gardens as in the beautiful Ninnaji Temple pond, dating from 888. Note the use of the 'borrowed scenery' pagoda, as well as the careful control of tree height in the mid-depth by pruning, which makes the garden seem larger and more layered. Zen Buddhism introduced to Japan many of the cultural aspects of Southern Song Dynasty art (1127-1279), particularly landscape painting. In turn, the Song Dynasty landscapes influenced the evolution of Japanese pond gardens and the contemplative karasansui stone gardens, like this masterpiece at the Ryoanji Temple, created sometime between 1499 and 1507. The wall is of clay boiled in oil and the pattern of oil leeching out to the surface over hundreds of years is an example of the wabi-sabi aesthetic that values the patina that comes to old, well-made objects as they age. The main island of Honshu has a temperate climate with four distinct seasons and part of the art of the Japanese garden is to capture and reflect the special fleeting beauty of each season, as seen here in two views of the Silver Pavilion (c. 1482) at Ginkakuji Temple in winter and spring. There are helpful introductory sections giving overviews on key stylistic elements, as well as information on maintenance--with photos that should discourage amateurs from lightly attempting this most labor-intensive garden style. I've only given you a little taste of the pleasures of this garden tour. Garden lovers as well as anyone who appreciates Japanese art and architecture will find much to enjoy here. See the notes to this review for many photos of my favorite, The Adachi Museum's famous karesansui or 'Dry Landscape Garden' throughout the seasons. For the History Book Club's Japan challenge.

Review # 2 was written on 2021-01-25 00:00:00 Patrick Logan This book was a Best of the Best for the month of September, 2019, as selected by Stevo's Book Reviews on the Internet / Stevo's Nobel Ideas. You can find me at , on my Stevo's Novel Ideas Amazon Influencer page () or search for me on Google for many more reviews and recommendations.