Teachings of the Garden (Conversations in Japan)

Looking at Japanese gardens will quickly reveal that they cannot be viewed as isolated from other art forms or social processes. Concepts of various origins converge in them, all aimed at creating a balance in their arrangement of the elements of the mental and the physical world. The Japanese garden thus appears neither void and contemplative nor purely aesthetic but as a social compendium that contains stories about an order that lies at the very foundation of a society—it is a total work of art and applied philosophy. The Viennese art historian and cultural scientist Carola Platzek takes an eleventh-century Japanese gardening manual as a starting point for her exploration of the history of Japanese gardens. The essence of the Sakuteiki still holds true today: Only the precise observation of nature will warrant a garden design that is in harmony with its environment. Platzek spoke with gardeners, garden historians, a sound researcher as well as a Buddhist priest and a Shinto priest about their work with traditional and modern concepts that shape Japanese design. The book introduces readers to systems such as the Sakuteiki, the Tea Way, the Eight Views genre, and waka poetry, presenting them in such a way as to make their interconnections accessible.