Sakuteiki: Visions of the Japanese Garden

This new translation of a Japanese title often referred to as the oldest known book on gardening, dating back to 794, expands beyond the original technical manual to encompass the broader social, political, and cultural practices of the time. At the time of its writing, Japanese aristocrats believed that the aristocratic garden offered communion with the divine. The original text was written in brush script on two long scrolls with no illustrations, but this modern translation and annotation by the late scholar Takei and landscape architect Keane (Japanese Garden Notes) includes ink drawings by Keane and others. The detailed drawings show the balance of simplicity and ornamentation, with images of lavish color alongside untreated man-made wooden structures. The authors repeatedly mention that there were various garden forms, but they had standard elements. The play of yin and yang in the garden is evident in tree plantings, such as the balance between evergreens (eternal) and cherry (evanescent). The book includes many detailed footnotes, appendices, redrawn scrolls, and an extensive glossary, bibliography, and index.