Presenting twenty-five master gardens, this landscape design book explores the ingenuity & range of Japanese landscaping, from the self-imposed confines of courtyard designs to the open expanses of the stroll garden. No two Japanese gardens are ever the same. The Japanese Zen garden is a work of art equivalent in scale to an installation, but it is also an urban refuge, a setting where we can attain composure & equipoise. It is a place to collect our thoughts, examine deeper feelings, & ponder our responses to managed nature. Zen gardens comprise a sensory as much as a cultural experience. They are multifaceted, satisfying both our personal & intellectual yearnings. This beautifully-photographed book illustrates a tradition that benefits from a thousand years of applied knowledge. It also demonstrates how contemporary landscaping draws from its history & reflects on why ancient gardening should be relevant to the lives of people in the twenty-first century. In this beautifully illustrated book, Japanese gardening specialist Stephen Mansfield takes readers on an exploration of the outward forms, underpinning principles, sophisticated use of metaphor & allusion, & beauty & depth that set the Zen garden apart. Readers of his previous book, Japanese Stone Gardens, will find in this new work a worthy companion volume. Japan`s Master Gardens is an inspiring, thought-provoking tribute to the landscape design wisdom of the Japanese.