Book excerpt: This highly illustrated colour guide to the courtyard gardens of Japan comprises 100 colour photographs, each accompanied by an explanatory caption detailing the location and outstanding characteristics of each garden. An appendix offers practical information on re-creating the Japanese garden. Enjoy it for its sheer beauty or use it for inspiration while creating your own small landscape garden. Japanese gardening is the art of arranging plants, rocks, lanterns, and basins in an open or, as here, an enclosed space. According to the aesthetic principles long