Even in crowded metropolitan areas, Japan s temple precincts preserve not only architecture, but the garden traditions of earlier centuries as well. To step into a temple garden is, in effect, to tread the paths of Japanese aesthetic history. This time travel experience is not unlike venturing into a medieval church situated in a modern Western metropolis. The recognized religious traditions survive in the layout and rationale of Japan s gardens: Shinto, Buddhist, and Confucian. This book explores the distinct priorities and vocabularies of these traditions as expressed in the elements of...