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The Gardens of Japan
In Japanese gardens, visitors find nature condensed and brought to perfection. Trees are trained and sculpted; the finest natural landscapes are reproduced in miniature; and the seasons are celebrated with spring blossom and the fiery leaves of autumn.
The Gardens of Japan is the perfect introduction to Japanese gardens. Helena Attlee captures the essence of Japanese garden style, and outlines its history. She then explores 28 of the great Japanese gardens in detail, explaining their character and nature. Alex Ramsay's superb photographs, specially taken for The Gardens of Japan , illustrate every aspect of the gardens.
The Gardens of Japan is the perfect introduction to Japanese gardens. Helena Attlee captures the essence of Japanese garden style, and outlines its history. She then explores 28 of the great Japanese gardens in detail, explaining their character and nature. Alex Ramsay's superb photographs, specially taken for The Gardens of Japan , illustrate every aspect of the gardens.
- GenresJapan
136 pages, Paperback
First published March 2, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 27, 2026
tldr: This book features 28 of Japan’s most famous gardens. Wonderful photos by Alex Ramsay and helpful written commentary by Helena Attlee. Just wish it wasn’t arranged in arbitrary alphabetical order.
This book could probably be categorized as a photo book given its emphasis on the photography here. Each garden has a written component explaining the origins of the garden, how it has changed over time, what makes it special, and its place in modern Japanese culture. This writing is accompanied by 2-8 artistically-shot photographs of the garden.
There is a map of Japan showing all 28 gardens early in the book. Garden lovers, Japanese culture, and nature would certainly be happy to flip through the pages of this delightful book.
PROS: Love the photographs. The introduction is a must-read
The true attention-grabber of this book is the photographs. They are of high-resolution and vibrant colours, shot with interesting angles and revealing perspectives. Some of these photographs even span the entire double-page spread, showing off its majesty.
The introduction was also really insightful and helps set up the reader to understand and appreciate the gardens. I liked how Attlee broke down the evolution of Japanese garden art through the years:
Interest in the garden was first mentioned in the Nara Period (710-794) in poetry, art, and literature, though no records of real garden art was found. It was only until the Heian period (794-1185) where real gardens first started to appear. These gardens were modelled after the legendary Chinese Mythic Isles and from tales of Pure Land Buddhism. During the Kamakura period (1185-1333) with the rise of the warrior class, the gardens evolved to adopt a more Zen style. This Zen Buddhist style would later be perfected during the Muromachi period (1393-1568), which is the classic sand-and-rock style that we now associate with Japanese gardens. Finally, during the Momoyama period (1568-1600) with the rise of tea ceremony culture, there was a shift from gardens that were merely meant to be seen to gardens that were meant to be walked and interacted with.
CONS: Arbitrary alphabetical order confuses the reader
It’s great how the book sets up the reader by providing a chronological breakdown of Japanese garden history, but I feel as though this advantage could have been better leveraged. The gardens in this book are ordered and arranged by alphabet, but I felt as though it would be helpful to arrange it chronologically. This way we can see the evolution of the Japanese garden style through the times as we flip through the pages from beginning to end. I would have liked to see all the examples of Heian-period gardens back-to-back and then gradually see its shift to Kamakura, Muromachi, and Momoyama styles.
Another suggestion could be to order it by location, since a map was provided at the very beginning of this book. Attlee often mentions how this-and-that garden was owned by so-and-so lord from such-and-such province, and being able to see that geographical movement throughout the book would have also been helpful.
Final remarks:
Love the book. Stunning photographs and great explanations. Just wished it was ordered chronologically or geographically.
This book could probably be categorized as a photo book given its emphasis on the photography here. Each garden has a written component explaining the origins of the garden, how it has changed over time, what makes it special, and its place in modern Japanese culture. This writing is accompanied by 2-8 artistically-shot photographs of the garden.
There is a map of Japan showing all 28 gardens early in the book. Garden lovers, Japanese culture, and nature would certainly be happy to flip through the pages of this delightful book.
PROS: Love the photographs. The introduction is a must-read
The true attention-grabber of this book is the photographs. They are of high-resolution and vibrant colours, shot with interesting angles and revealing perspectives. Some of these photographs even span the entire double-page spread, showing off its majesty.
The introduction was also really insightful and helps set up the reader to understand and appreciate the gardens. I liked how Attlee broke down the evolution of Japanese garden art through the years:
Interest in the garden was first mentioned in the Nara Period (710-794) in poetry, art, and literature, though no records of real garden art was found. It was only until the Heian period (794-1185) where real gardens first started to appear. These gardens were modelled after the legendary Chinese Mythic Isles and from tales of Pure Land Buddhism. During the Kamakura period (1185-1333) with the rise of the warrior class, the gardens evolved to adopt a more Zen style. This Zen Buddhist style would later be perfected during the Muromachi period (1393-1568), which is the classic sand-and-rock style that we now associate with Japanese gardens. Finally, during the Momoyama period (1568-1600) with the rise of tea ceremony culture, there was a shift from gardens that were merely meant to be seen to gardens that were meant to be walked and interacted with.
CONS: Arbitrary alphabetical order confuses the reader
It’s great how the book sets up the reader by providing a chronological breakdown of Japanese garden history, but I feel as though this advantage could have been better leveraged. The gardens in this book are ordered and arranged by alphabet, but I felt as though it would be helpful to arrange it chronologically. This way we can see the evolution of the Japanese garden style through the times as we flip through the pages from beginning to end. I would have liked to see all the examples of Heian-period gardens back-to-back and then gradually see its shift to Kamakura, Muromachi, and Momoyama styles.
Another suggestion could be to order it by location, since a map was provided at the very beginning of this book. Attlee often mentions how this-and-that garden was owned by so-and-so lord from such-and-such province, and being able to see that geographical movement throughout the book would have also been helpful.
Final remarks:
Love the book. Stunning photographs and great explanations. Just wished it was ordered chronologically or geographically.
October 10, 2019
Some 28 important gardens in Japan are covered off in this book by Helena Attlee. Basically it is a picture book with some details about each garden ...mainly historical details. There is very little about any theories of garden design or layout , but maybe the is unnecessary with a book like this. The photographs are great...though, in a few cases, I noticed the perennial problem of photographic Japanese gardens; you need to be there at the right time. So the photos of the gardens in Okayama...Koraku-en appear to be taken in early winter. I had the same problem. Visiting there at the wrong season....before all the azaleas come out and the grass turns green. But, in it's own way, each of these great gardens has something to offer to the visitor in every season. And the constant march of the seasons.....so evident in Japan.....lends a unique charm to every garden. Still....it's hard really to beat these gardens in spring when the cherry blossoms are in flower or in Autumn when the leaves turn to bright red and yellow. I think Helena and her photographer husband have done a pretty good job with this book. It's a good overview of a large number of very beautiful gardens ...and they have not neglected to pick up on a few of the small details that make these places so lovely:....moss around the base of trees; roof tiles inserted in the ground; a rock tied with string to mark a no-go area. Great pictures.
April 21, 2011
The layout made it a bit confusing to determine which gardens were located where in Japan itself; otherwise, lovely photos and interesting (if sometimes repetitive) descriptions.
July 10, 2016
Lovely photos
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews