2 comments about The Art of Setting Stones: And Other Writings from the Japanese Garden.

1. The Art of Setting Stones is a distillation of Mr. Keane's considerable knowledge and experience of Japanese gardens. Mr. Keane is a successful and sought-after landscape architect by profession, but his writings on Japanese gardens are scholarly yet accessible, informative yet enthralling. He consistently demonstrates a synthesis of profession and intellect, art and soul.

   I would caution the reader who seeks mere knowledge on Japanese gardens. For this, the reader is better served by Mr. Keane's other works, Japanese Garden Design and the tremendous translation of the eleventh-century manual, Sakuteiki. The Art of Setting Stones is a collection of loosely-related essays that expound the conceptual, spiritual and philosophical framework for creating gardens. The essays are reflective in nature, poetic in style, and deeply learned in content; they provide a patient reader with several evenings of delightful reading.

   The title of this collection, which comes from the Sakuteiki, provides a key to the genesis of Mr. Keane's essays: the act of creating a garden space is ancient and primordial, rooted in our relationship to the very land itself. One of the the terms that the Sakuteiki uses for the act of creating a garden is "ishi-wo tatsu" - literally, "to raise stones." Mr. Keane's insight comes from years of doing just that.




2. The author made Kyoto his home after graduating from Cornell University's department of landscape architecture, first as a research fellow of Kyoto University, and later as a landscape architect and writer. He is currently adjunct professor at the Kyoto University of Art and Design, and splits his time between lecturing and praticing landscape architecture from his offices in Ithaca, New York.
   
   The 8 essays desribe his intimate experience of the Japanese garden and shed light on both the cultural origins as well as the personal meanings he has derived from his years of study and contemplation.
   
   His unique perspective is informed by a deep understanding of the historical context of the gardens combined with an appreciation of the spiritual traditions that have defined their aesthetics.
   
   Each of the essays is introduced by a black clayboard illustration done by the author, adding a visual interpretation to his often deeply philisophical musings, making this book the most enjoyable writing I have found to date on the Japanese garden.

5 comments about The Hidden Gardens of Kyoto.

1. This book provides an excellent inside look at kyoto's historical gardens, though without much of the context in which they exist (e.g. surrounding city, houses). The photography is fantastic as it realistically shows the reader both the intricate details & broad strokes that make up these complex settings. Keep in mind, it is a serious piece of work and the descriptions are somewhat short and/or dry (but maybe that's the point).



2. This a beautiful collection of large-sized well composed photographs of the different type of gardens found throughout Kyoto. They are accompanied with brief text on their design principles and historical background. Might proof useful as inspiration and reference for anyone writing and/or illustrating a story set in Feudal Japan like Samurai-Ninja stories. It might also be a nice surprise present to Anime/Manga fans by adding another dimension to their collections.



3. After visiting Kyoto , i think this book gives us many opportunities to appreciate so many details of the wonderful and chaming japanes gardens of the ancient Japan capital.
   And the pictures overall taken in fall period are much better,in my opinion, to the spring pictures



4. Great picture book, but there isn't much in the way of detailed commentary. Would have enjoyed this book a lot more if there had been some focus on exactly what was highlighted in the photo.



5. this is a book about not so common visited places, although tere are also some very "touristic" places. the pictures are nice to good, it gives a good overview about Kyoto. I was a little disapointed that the Nanzenji temple is not commented. but if you are fond of Japanese gardens it is a good picture book that give you ideas.

No comments about Gardens of the Spirit 2009 Wall Calendar.

1 comments about Courtyard Gardens of Kyoto's Merchant Houses.

1. Kyoto is one of the most aesthetically refined cities in the world. In the summer, it's also one of the hottest. So naturally this fine city's residents beat the heat in a manner both tastefully elegant and ingeniously functional. And that's the subject of this lavishly illustrated book: tsuboniwa, smallish gardens set within the structure of Kyoto's machiya townhouses so as to facilitate the flow of cool air through the premises as well as provide a little microcosmic world apart. While significantly informed by the conventions of teahouse "roji" and Buddhist temple layout, these diminutive landscapes tucked within the bustling merchant households of the urban and urbane old capital have a sense and a style all their own, one that's beautifully communicated through Katsuhiko Mizuno's fine full-page photographs and his insightfully expert if occasionally gushing commentary. The many kinds of rocks and stones serving as the principle elements of design and texture in these gardens are explained in full (with a handy list in the back), and something of the history of many of the old venerable townhouses featured in these pages is touched upon as well. All in all, then, this is a gorgeous coffee-table book that's also nicely informative. And it's great for breezing through with an ice-cool glass of mugi-cha tea. Check it out!

5 comments about Ikebana: Japanese Flower Arrangement.

1. This is a clearly written, well thought out explanation of the basics of Ikebana. The photographs demonstrating the combinations of materials, and their height relative to each other, are great as examples for beginners. Many ikebana teachers don't speak English well, so this book is useful for a cross reference for something you were taught in class. One problem - there are many schools of ikebana so the book has to be quite generic in its explanations, which is not necessarily how your particular school may approach a certain principle. But again, as a study supplement to a class, it works well.



2. I got this book to go with Origami Flowers by Hiromi Hayashi. Reiko Takenaka does a good job explaining how to make an arrangement that looks like the pictures, with step by step instructions and clear diagrams. Some of the containers seem to clash with the flowers, and some of the special occasions arrangements are lost in translation for someone not intimately familiar with Japanese culture like me. My only real criticism, however, is that the book does not really explain any principles about why and how and what looks good - it's more a menu to find an arrangement that looks nice in the picture and repeat it.



3. The problem with this book is that most of the shown arrangements are plainly not beautiful. They don't look balanced as real ikebana should look, containers don't seem suitable for flowers, color combinations are not always harmonious, and in many cases it is not clear why this is called ikebana at all. There are some pieces of useful information such as diagrams, tools, and tips, but I don't think it reasonable to buy the book for those 10 pages (like I did).
   There is a really great book on ikebana: "The art of arranging flowers; a complete guide to Japanese ikebana" by Shozo Sato, but it is out of print I am afraid. For examples of good ikebana look at these sites: http://www.nihonkoryu.org/, http://homepages.stmartin.edu/fac_staff/elias/index.htm, http://www.ikebanahq.org/



4. I teach classes in regular floral design and needed something to be a little different and this was it.



5. I am a newcomer to flower arranging but I want my arrangements to look professional. This book is perfect for people like me -- the author tells you exactly what you need, what tools, what equipment, what plant and accessory materials, and then shows you step-by-step where to place each piece of the arrangement. I have varied my plant materials and accessories according to what I could find in my area, and the arrangements have been stunning. A book that explains the philosophy behind Ikebana would complement this book.

4 comments about Styles and Motifs Japanese Gardens.

1. It is said that if you cut a Japanese garden with a sword, it will bleed, because the gardener has put his very life's blood into his creation. To stand in the composed splendor of an authentic Japanese garden, it is easy to believe this, so powerful and rich is the aura of the place. Any visitor to Japan will spend at least some time in the famous gardens, wandering and dreaming. Possibly there are one or two Japanese gardens in your hometown as well, if you are lucky.
   
   However, unless you are steeped in the mysteries and culture of Japanese religion, you would no more understand the deeper symbolism of the place than a lifelong Buddhist would understand the icons of a Catholic church. Japanese gardens are not mere works of beauty. In some cases, they are encoded representations of paradise. In other cases, mediation tools to assist in gaining enlightenment. In all cases, they are much more than what they appear.
   
   Katsuhiko Mizuno has kindly written a guide book, a decoder if you will, to the delights of the garden. "Styles and Motifs: Japanese Gardens" is an essential book. Mizuno has made simple the complex structure, elucidating the symbology of the naturescape and the intentions of the gardener. Set into thirty basic motifs, such as "Moss Gardens," "Sand Designs," "Buddhist Trinity Stones" and "Rock Arrangements Symbolizing Eternal Life," the book explains and shows examples of typical features. Each feature is accompanied by a beautiful photograph, and information as to which gardens throughout Japan that particular feature can be found.
   
   The book is compact, and spiral bound, making it very convenient to carry and travel with. Anyone coming to Japan would be happy to have included a copy in their packing.
   
   I have been to Ryoan-ji in Kyoto many times, and each time I can hear people, staring at the famous Dry Landscape Garden (#15 in the book) saying, "Its beautiful, but what does it mean? I just don't get it." If they had a copy of "Styles and Motifs: Japanese Gardens," think of how much richer their experiences would have been!



2. Splendid photographs and insightful descriptions enhance the appreciation I already have for the artistry within Japanese gardens.



3. Some joker here said this book was an "Excellent coffee table book." When you think of a coffee table book, you think of a big book with large pictures.
   
   This book is 6 inches...it's a combed bound landscape pocket book.
   
   Sure the pictures and the short essays that accompany them are lovely...bring a magnifying glass!
   
   However, the essays often point out the shortcomings of the book. In one case, it talks of how a garden was built to be enjoyed from multiple points of view; however, you only get one photo of the garden. In another case, a pond garden is described as being enjoyed from a boat; but the picture is from the shore.
   
   For you zen folk: the nature of the book is not in harmony with the content of the book. A pocket book can never cover the scope of these gardens.
   
   I gave it two stars because it might be good as a learning aid to those studying Japanese gardens...the landscape binding make it a pretty good flash-card system.



4. I got some good ideas looking through this book. I am not a "kid" under 13 but found it difficult to find any other place to review this. I was waiting for it to come to my library but got impatient and sent for it.

5 comments about Secret Teachings in the Art of Japanese Gardens: Design Principles, Aesthetic Values.

1. I purchased the hardcover of this book in 1988. I read it cover to cover immediately. I used the rock setting techniques described by Slawson "hands on" in my landscape contracting business in Boulder, CO. I found it immensely useful.

   A number of years passed, nearly four of them spent in graduate architecture school studying formal geometries, history, architecture as a verb.....architecture with a great big capital A.

   Yet, I did not fully appreciate the book until recently. I dusted it off when I was hired to set 2 semi-truck loads of stones. I reviewed it and found that my studies from it ten years earlier had indeed made an indelible impression upon me. The seemingly daunting task of composing 50 tons of boulders in an aesthetically pleasing manner was made much easier thanks to Slawson's studies. His book was more useful than 3 1/2 years of architecture school. Believe me, read it and get your hands dirty. Work with big stones, the dirt. It is the real work.

   You will likely find the book "thick" in the sense that at times, each sentence is filled with succinct words. You may find yourself re-reading sentences to understand. Better graphic descriptions could have helped here. In particular the sections comparing Arnheims "Art and Visual Perception" with compositional arrangements, proportions and general japanese garden aesthetics are excellent. It is in these sections where one begins to understand how intelligent japanese garden design is. It fully engages the haptic sense as well as one's psychology.

   Slawson makes many important notes and observations about the making of Japanese gardens. Yet he also points out that Japanese gardens evolved in Japan because of particular conditions of culture and nature. He points out that the teachings would not necessarily recomend "copying" these teachings in other region with climates different than those of Japan.

   Slawson gives us an excellent resource to consider Japanese "teachings" in composing gardens, for example, in the desert southwest (USA). A garden influenced by the desert southwest would simply not fit in Japan. Yet, if you make the "teachings" your own you could create a japanese influenced garden.

   Similarly, many Japanese garden copies in America don't fit. With the exception of the Portland Japanese Garden in Portland, Oregon.

   I recomend the book because I continue to turn to it year after year. The sign for me of a valuable book.

   Patrick Healy




2. Of all the books we consulted, read, and reread before we began to design and create our own Japanese-style garden -- really, just a small front yard of a rowhouse on a pretty street on Capitol Hill -- Slawson's book was the most useful. Why? Not because it's easy reading! Understanding what the author is trying to say requires careful and slow reading (and rereading) of almost every sentence. It's effort well spent! Unlike so many pretty-picture books about Japanese garden design, which amaze the reader with their photos but leave him/her dumbfounded as to how one would go about designing a garden from scratch (as opposed to merely copying some handsome garden pictured on one of the book's pages!), Slawson's book unlocks -- to the persistent reader -- the fundamentals (secrets, if you insist) of what makes a garden Japanese. As the preceding reviewer already pointed out, this essentially boils down to being able to express one's own experience and impression of nature. Once you're at this stage, the selection of rocks and other materials and their harmonious placement in the space at hand, is almost a piece of cake. (OK, it's still a lot of work to implement one's design, but at least you know what you're supposed to be doing!)

   In case you're wondering about the outcome of our design effort: we've gotten lots of praise from neighbors and from total strangers, from American and from Japanese friends, for our little Japanese-style rock garden. And everybody who looks at our front yard gets what we were trying to express artistically! I have no doubts that we could never had this type of success without having had access to Slawson's remarkable book.




3. I have, over the years, collected a number of books on the art of Japanese Gardens. Most rely on glossy photos and provide very little written content on the complexities of Japanese garden composition. What sets this work apart is its depth and focus on unraveling the underlying design principles and its intent on providing a deeper understanding into the art of Japanese gardening. If you were looking for a purely visual reference I would advise you not purchase this book. If however you were searching for a scholarly study in the design aesthetics of Japanese gardens, I would give this book my strongest recommendation. Slawson begins with his experiences as a master gardener's apprentice in Japan and ends with a full translation of an ancient gardening manual used by Buddhist monks. Each page overflows with background, details and inspiration. He urges and inspires you not to transplant an existing garden design, but gives the reader the foundation to evolve a plan reflective of your own individual location and taste. By clearly dissecting the aesthetic principal behind Japanese garden design, the book succeeds in creating a truly inspirational guide. Have a highlighter and note pad ready from the first page of the acknowledgements to the comprehensive bibliography.



4. This book is too dense for my needs. If you need to read liquid platinum about Japanese gardens, go for this book. If you need a quicker hitter, go elsewhere.



5. I first found this book over twenty years ago and have not found another that comes close to giving the reader as comprehensive an understanding of Japanese garden design. At first, I read the book from cover to cover. However, because of its depth it is best to re-read the book (the second and all subsequent times) in sections. A more thorough and complete understanding is achieved.
   
   It is true that this book is not an easy read. However, it has always been an enjoyable and enlightened one.

5 comments about The Living Art of Bonsai: Principles & Techniques of Cultivation & Propagation.

1. I've read this book from cover to cover. I'm already on my 3rd bonzai tree. What an excellent book! You can tell the publisher and the author put alot of work into it.

   nice job




2. I ordered this book because it sounded comprehensive and promised lots of photos. Having spent a good bit of time looking it over, I confess to very mixed feelings about it. There is a lot of excellent information inside and some very handsome bonsai portraits, but the overall subject treatment varies: sometimes Dr. Liang goes into depth, while at other times her approach remains superficial. Her section "Bonsai Creation," for instance, runs all of 4 pages (primarily photographs) and essentially recommends spending a lot of time looking at trees. Worse, I couldn't escape the sense that the book is in some regards a vanity publication. Many of the pictures focus on Dr. Liang and her trees, occasionally including family members, and very few of those pictures are instructive; they seem intended instead to show off her collection. And while the writing is generally solid, the English is at times stilted and could have used editing by someone for whom it is not a second language. Having said all that, it's not a bad book by any means and it does contain useful information. However, I recommend thinking of it as one source among many and suggest buying a used copy to save a few dollars.



3. The book is awesome great pics good tips for almost everything its big i mean the book is really big if you like bonsai you will like this book the quality is good the book came in great condition not even a scratch i recomend it 100%



4. There is a lot of good information, but it is mostly beginner 'common sense' bonsai information, such as how to sow seeds. Half the book contains just pictures of bonsai (beautiful, but only a small portion is dedicated to 'principles and techniques' like the title promises). I LOVED the section on miniature rock formations and a glimpse into 'suiseki' (the art of rock appreciation). A good book for a the coffee table.



5. I received the book at the time when I expected it. It was in superb condition as promised. I will recommend this seller for anybody who do not want to be disappointed when using the net buying books.

No comments about Pocket Gardens: Contemporary Japanese Miniature Designs.

4 comments about Simon & Schuster's Guide To Bonsai (Nature Guide Series).

1. More then 100 full-color photographs of 150 species of trees.



2. Simon and Schuster's book of Bonsai is a classic to use for a bonsai enthusiast. It gives details on conditions, soils, plants and care for numerous plants used for bonsai. They have information that is not available in many other bonsai texts. I have read dozens of bonsai books and have over 15 of my own including this book. I would highly recommend it for all but the novice.



3. The first one hundred or so pages of this book are devoted to the art of Bonsai before it goes into description of the different types of Bonsai. For each listing there is a photo of the tree in Bonsai form, as well as four icons. The icons tell whether or not this is an outdoor bonsai, how much water it needs, how much sun it can get, and how hard it is too grow. The actual description under each listing is divided into five parts: a brief description, repotting information, pruning and wiring information, feeding (fertilizing) information, and additional notes. Ultimately, the descriptions could be more detailed, but provide all of the necessary information.

   There are many species covered, but the list is by no means all-inclusive. Coast Redwood, Baobab and Cotoneaster are conspicuously missing from this text. The trees that are included:

   Acacia;
   Apricot (two kinds);
   Bo Tree;
   Bougainvillea;
   Box;
   Camellia;
   Carmona;
   Cedar Of Lebanon;
   Chinese Ash;
   Chinese Juniper;
   Chinese Persimmon;
   Chinese Pistachio;
   Common Horse Chestnut;
   Common Myrtle;
   Crab Apple (two kinds);
   Crape Myrtle;
   Cypress: Bald, Hinoki, Italian;
   Dwarf Lilac;
   East Indian Satin Wood;
   Elephant Bush;
   Elm: Caucasian, Chinese;
   European Beech;
   European Larch;
   European White Birch;
   Fig (four kinds);
   Frethorn;
   Giant Sequoia;
   Glossy Privet;
   Golden Larch;
   Gooseberry;
   Hazel;
   Hawthorn;
   Hemlock: Eastern, Japanese;
   Hornbeam: Regular, Hop, Japanese;
   Italian Alder;
   Jacaranda;
   Japanese Blume;
   Japanese Larch;
   Japanese Privet;
   Japanese Red Cedar;
   Japanese Sago Palm;
   Japanese Wisteria;
   Judas Tree (red bud);
   Liquidambar;
   Maidenhair Tree;
   Manna Ash;
   Maple: Trident, Field, Montpelier, Japan;
   Mastic Tree;
   Milkweed;
   Narihira Bamboo;
   Nebrodi Silver Fur;
   Needle Juniper;
   Nettle Tree: Southern, Chinese;
   Oak: Cork, English, Holly;
   Oleaster;
   Olive: Wild, Common;
   Orange Jasmine;
   Pine: Arolla, Black, Japanese Black, Japanese Brocade, Japanese Red, Japanese White, Mountain, Scots;
   Peach;
   Pink Carnation;
   Pomegranate: Regular, Dwarf;
   Potentilla;
   Queensland Umbrella Tree;
   Quince (three kinds);
   Rosemary;
   Saint Lucie Cherry;
   Setsuke Azalea;
   Smoke Tree;
   Spruce: Nowway, White, Yezo;
   Strawberry Tree;
   Sweet Chestnut;
   Sycamore;
   Tamarind;
   Tamarisk;
   Theezan Tea;
   Thyme;
   White Mulberry;
   White Willow;
   Wild Pear;
   Winged Spindle;
   Winter Jasmine;
   Yew: English, Japanese;
   Zelkova




4. I decided to order this book after purchasing a bonsai tree at Walmart (which I have since been told is a bad idea, but my tree is doing wonderfully in spite of its lowly beginnings). I'm a rather visual person, so the fact that the book is full of pictures is immensely helpful to me. It's a very informative little book and I would definitely recommend it to those who are looking to get into bonsai.