Customer Reviews

Infinite Spaces: The Art and Wisdom of the Japanese Garden

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a better than average coffee-table book about Japanese Gardens. The photos are for the most part excellent (a few are too dark). Many of the gardens shown are located outside of the Kyoto area and have seldom if ever been shown in other such (English language) books on this subject; this is a nice touch because it means that there is little overlap between this book and others. I had high hopes that the book would include a substantial (if not complete) translation of the Sakuteiki but despite the introduction which implies that this might be the case, it is not true. I would guess that less than 25% of the text of Sakuteiki is included, and the authors have rearranged the material into thematic sections to fit their own taste. This is a terrible pity becuase the 11th century gardening manual known by the name "Sakuteiki" is a very important point of reference in understanding the historical developement of Japanese gardens - sections from it are quoted by almost every book written on the subject, yet there is no generally available English translation of it. The 1976 translation by Shigemaru Shimoyama (publ. by Town & City Planners,Inc. Tokyo) was printed in a tiny edition of only 300 copies so the only way to read it is by borrowing a copy thru the academic inter-library loan program at your local public library. The way the authors of this book have rearranged the text into disjointed quotations (with widely varying typographic style & presentation) really does not do justice to the orginal material and is in considerable danger of reinforcing the old western stereotype of "pearls of wisdom from the inscrutable orient". I would suggest that you buy this book for the pictures alone and not pay too much attention to the text as currently presented. If the book is popular enough to merit a 2nd edition I hope the authors will reconsider the current format.

The photos are so luscious--I can't think of a more appropriate term--that it's as if you're in these gardens. I believe all of the photos are of the ancient gardens in Kyoto, and if not, they're definately all from Japan. This book is truly one that was inspired by the Sakuteki, not an illustrated edition of the Sakuteki. You'll want it for dreamy page turning, not as an instruction book for your own gardens.

Infinite Spaces is lean on the commentary and abundant in beautiful full color photos displaying a wide variety of magnificent Japanese gardens. Some are from temples and others from private properties. This is not a repetitive book that displays the same Kyoto gardens like many that have been published.

While some are from Kyoto, Eric Miller's review suggests most of the gardens are located around Kyoto. This is not accurate at all. In fact, what's so incredible about this book is the authors traveled virtually the whole country and shot incredible gardens the whole length of Japan. Gardens are documented from the following regions: Nara, Shiga, Tottori, Ehime, Yamaguchi, Nagano, Nagoya, Tokushima, Yamagata, Tokyo, Ishikawa, Shizuoka, Fukuoka, Mie, Kumamoto, Wakayama, Iwate, Aomori, Yamanashi, Fukui, Niigata, Aichi, Kanagawa, and Gifu.

Awesome! Tons of great inspiration here. I highly recommend it.

If your one of those people that can learn from basic truths and visual stimulous that book is great. Its a simple book with translations from the "bible" of Japanese gardening. And photos to show you examples.

This book offers beautiful ideas into creating garden spaces. I am not as fond of it as the Meservy book, but have referenced it for building gardens and augmenting outdoors spaces.