At the heart of a Japanese garden is harmony with nature. More than simplya landscape of trees and flowering shrubs, a Japanese garden provides aplace of serenity and rest, filled with peaceful spots that lend themselvesto meditation and contemplation. Japanese Gardens celebrates andillustrates this ideal, showcasing the exquisite natural beauty of morethan 20 quintessentially Japanese gardens-big and small, urban and rural,traditional and contemporary.The expert author-and-photographer team behind this book excels atcapturing and explaining the essential elements and techniques thatdistinguish Japanese gardens from those of other countries. The featuredsites range from large feudal period gardens, temple gardens and privateand countryside gardens to mountain flower gardens, tea gardens and gardensdevoted to miniature bonsai.