Japanese Garden: Gateway to the Human Spirit

Even in crowded metropolitan areas, Japan’s temple precincts preserve not only architecture, but the garden traditions of earlier centuries as well. To step into a temple garden is, in effect, to tread the paths of Japanese aesthetic history. This time travel experience is not unlike venturing into a medieval church situated in a modern Western metropolis. The recognized religious traditions survive in the layout and rationale of Japan’s gardens: Shinto, Buddhist, and Confucian. This book exp…