Sakuteiki: A Modern Translation of Japan's Gardening Classic - (Tuttle Classics) by Jiro Takei & Marc Peter Keane (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

The Sakuteiki, or "Records of Garden Making," was written nearly a thousand years ago. It is the oldest existing text on Japanese gardening--or any kind of gardening--in the world.

In this new edition, the authors provide an English-language translation of this classic work and an introduction to the cultural and historical context that led to the development of Japanese gardening, illustrated with 59 color and B&W drawings, paintings and photographs.

A new foreword by Japanese garden expert Hugo Torii, the Garden Curator at Portland Japanese Garden, explains the sacred importance of stones in Japanese culture and Japanese garden design generally.

Written by a Japanese court noble during the Heian period (794-1184), the Sakuteiki includes technical advice on gardening--much of which is still followed in today's Japanese gardens--and an examination of the four central threads of allegorical meaning which were integral features of Heian-era garden design. For those seeking inspiration to build a rock garden or just better understand the Japanese stone garden, the Sakuteiki is an enduring classic.

About the Author

The late Jiro Takei, professor emeritus of the Kyoto College of Art, taught a course on the Sakuteiki for many years. Throughout his long and distinguished career, he had been deeply involved in the study of Japanese gardens, as the Chairman of the Japanese Garden Academic Society (Nihon Teien Gakkai), regional chief of the Gardening Academic Society (Zoen Gakkei), and chief researcher of the Research Center for Japanese Garden Art (Nihon Teien Kenkyu Senta).

Marc P. Keane is an American landscape architect who has been designing gardens from his studio in Kyoto, Japan for twenty- five years. He is also the author of many books on gardens and nature including Japanese Garden Design (Tuttle). HIs work can be viewed at www.mpkeane.com

Hugo Torii (foreword writer) is the Garden Curator at Portland Japanese Garden (USA). Prior to this, Torii worked at Peter Berg Landscape Design in Rheinland Pfalz, Germany, and at UeyaKato Landscape Co. Ltd. in Kyoto, Japan as a garden designer and builder. He now oversees a dedicated team of gardeners and is actively involved in training programs as well as garden maintenance and projects, keeping in mind short term needs as well as longer term implications for a garden that receives around 500,000 annual visitors.