Kyoto Gardens: Masterworks of the Japanese Gardener's Art

Kyoto Gardens: Masterworks of the Japanese Gardener's Art by Clancy, Judith. Hardcover edition. ISBN: 0676251313215.

"Bring the art and beauty of Japan to your garden with inspiration from Kyoto Gardens." —HGTV Gardens Featuring beautiful Japanese garden photography and insightful writing, Kyoto Gardens is a labor of love from master photographer Ben Simmons and Kyoto-based writer Judith Clancy. In their rocks and plants, empty spaces and intimate details—Kyotos gardens manifest a unique ability to provoke thought and delight in equal measure. These varied landscapes meld the sensuality of nature with the disciplines of cosmology, poetry and meditation. Japanese aristocrats created these gardens to display not just wealth and power, but cultural sensitivity and an appreciation for transcendent beauty. A class of professional gardeners eventually emerged, transforming Japanese landscape design into a formalized art. Today, Kyotos gardens display an enormous range of forms—from rock gardens display of extreme minimalism and subtle hues, to stroll gardens of luscious proportions and vibrant colors. In Kyoto Gardens Simmons photographs present a fresh and contemporary look at Kyotos most important gardens. Their beauty is enhanced and humanized by gardeners tending the grounds using the tools of their art. Clancys graceful text provides historical, aesthetic and cultural context to the Japanese gardens. Combining wonder and rigor, she describes how Kyotos most beloved gardens remain faithful to their founders creative spirit and conception. Journey to Kyotos thirty gardens with just a turn of a page, or use the handy maps to plan your trip.