Japanese Garden Notes

"The undisputed American master of Japanese garden scholars."--New York Times, Dominique Browning

Matching some 400 color photographs to brief, informed observations, renowned garden designer Marc Peter Keane walks us through 100 Japanese gardens, stopping along the way to note essential elements of design, technique, and culture. Covering everything from large-scale aspects of space and balance to subtle elements that are often overlooked, this is an innovative, stunningly visual guide for planning and inspiration.

Landscape architect and author Marc Peter Keane lived in Kyoto, Japan, for nearly 20 years and specializes in Japanese garden design. He lives in Ithaca, New York.

Marc Peter Keane: Marc Peter Keane, a graduate of Cornell University, is an American landscape architect and author. He lived in Kyoto, Japan, for nearly 20 years, and specializes in Japanese garden design. Presently, he maintains a design office in Ithaca, New York. He is the author of several books about garden design: Japanese Garden Design (an introduction to the culture and design of Japanese gardens); Sakuteiki: Visions of the Japanese Garden (a translation of Japan's oldest gardening text, co-authored with Prof. Jiro Takei), The Art of Setting Stones (a collection of philosophical essays on gardens), and The Japanese Tea Garden (history and aesthetics of Japanese tea gardens). Keane is a fellow at the Research Center for Japanese Garden Art in Kyoto, the East Asia Program at Cornell University, and the Institute for Medieval Japanese Studies at Columbia University. He has lectured widely throughout the United States, England, and Japan. Keane also acted as chairman of Kyoto Mitate International for many years, a non-profit organization that worked to revitalize Kyoto's traditional environments and cultural heritage.