The Modern Japanese Garden

The first ever survey of the evolution of the Japanese garden, dating from 1900 to the present day.


A major survey and the first book of its kind, The Modern Japanese Garden is set to become the definitive book on the subject. Featuring gardens from Tokyo, Kyoto and Fujisawa to Osaka, Okayama, Fukuoka and beyond, this impressive overview includes major analysis of key works of interest through detailed garden profiles; insights into some of the most renowned Japanese garden designers across history; and a thoughtful exploration of the essential themes and developments in Japanese garden design.


The Modern Japanese Garden investigates the relationship between nature and modernity. Roughly divided between pre- and post-1945 Japanese garden design, it examines post-war shifts in attitudes towards the contemporary garden as they move from status symbols and expressions of influence to spaces of healing and mediation. A short history of the Japanese garden, from pre-Shinto stone arrangements to the last years of the nineteenth century, sits alongside analysis of the contemporary gardens of Japan's corporate buildings, museums, hotels and public spaces.


Garden profiles offer a comprehensive overview of the most iconic and influential gardens in Japan, and include a mix of landscape- and smaller-scale gardens, many just recently completed. Interspersed throughout are short interludes, covering everything from the ancient garden of Ryoan-ji in Kyoto to the aesthetic lexicon of Japanese garden design, while essays from a number of high-profile contributors meditate on particular themes.


Intended for both professional and general readers with an interest in landscape design and Japan's contemporary lifestyle, this is the definitive sourcebook on the subject.

Stephen Mansfield is a British photojournalist and author, based in Japan and specializing in Japanese garden design. Stephen's work has appeared across various magazines, newspapers and journals world-wide, including The Geographical, South China Morning Post and The Japan Times. He is author of Japan: Islands of the Floating World and the Insight Pocket Guide to Tokyo. Pico Iyer is the author of seventeen books. Three of them describe his life in Japan over the past thirty-seven years: The Lady and the Monk, Autumn Light and A Beginner's Guide to Japan.