Among Japan's leading garden commentators, Shunmyo Masuno is, perhaps, best placed to explain the complexities of these installations to foreign readers. When Masuno, a Zen priest at a Kamakura temple, notes in "Inside Japanese Gardens" that in the application of Zen to gardens "the state of one's mind is not conveyed through letters or words, but attempts are made to condense everything through silence," we are inclined to accept his word. A great deal more than just a garden fancier, Masuno, a landscape designer much in demand both in Japan and overseas, is both theorist and practitioner.
True to its title, this long-overdue English translation of Masuno's text is a journey into the mind and heart of the Japanese garden. Like an encyclopedia or anthology of garden usage, the book may be read in its entirety or referred to as a source. Chapters deal in depth with the structure and elements of gardens, their care and maintenance. Case studies are also provided, illustrating the planning and construction from conception to completion. In the history and styles section, examples are given of dry landscape, stroll, paradise, teahouse and other garden forms. In a final chapter called "Modern Gardens," we glimpse the application of gardens not only as adjuncts to temples, samurai villas and private estates, but as components of hotel complexes, research centers and even bridal halls.
The values embodied in Japanese gardens, the unimpeachable refinement of the more successful designs, are mostly lost on today's visitor. The environments of gardens, barbarized by the deportment of the modern visitor and vulgarized by the commercial ethic, have also suffered in some cases.