Authentic Japanese Gardens: Creating Japanese Design and Detail in the Western Garden

This is a really charming book, full of bright, colourful photographs and well-drawn illustrations, with useful tips on choosing appropriate plants, shrubs, and trees.Its explanations are not massively detailed, or deeply academically rigourous, but it strikes an excellent balance in terms of being informative yet remaining accessible to those with a sincere interest in learning more about (and perhaps dabbling in creating) Japanese style gardens, without wishing to get too intimidated or bogged-down with overly-dry textbooks.It is also excellent value, both for the quality of the colour printing and for the amount of information provided within its pages.I also purchased Marc Peter Keane's 'Japanese Garden Notes: A Visual Guide to Elements and Design' and was very disappointed that, at more than 4 times the price of this book, it contains far less information. Lots of nice photographs, but nowhere near justifying it's more than 4 times higher price.Kawaguchi's 'Authentic Japanese Gardens' is complemented really well by David & Michiko Young's 'The Art of the Japanese Garden', which shares its vibrant, colourful photography, adept illustrations, and informative yet accessible style of writing. If I had to choose only one, then it'd be the Youngs' book, but Kawaguchi's book is well worth also having, especially at it's bargain price.

love the book-its well written and informative---lots of garden designs that are beautiful and the pruning side to many of our own trees are better than we do --you do not have to remove a tree when they grow to big just a few simple alterations to its form and you learn to see its beauty without killing it

Arrived on time and lived up to expectations. For anyone who, like me, really finds Japanese gardens very special, there is a good deal to learn here and many fronts. The lists of places to go and shops in the UK and abroad towards the end is very helpful, too.

Excellent book fantastic colours very knowledgeable and creative

This book was purchased as a gift for a friend embarking on a Japanese garden project.It is a lovely gift and is on a very useful practical level, particularly for a novice Japanese gardener.