The Intimate Beauty of a Japanese Courtyard

This is a perfectly fine book depicting some modern Japanese houses. Lots of photos of house interiors and plans, etc but with only minimal focus on the "courtyards" (which in many cases here are really just ordinary gardens) rather than tsuboniwa, rojiniwa etc. So the title of the book is a little misleading. Personally, I would have loved a book with more examination of the small garden/courtyard spaces within Japanese houses but this is not that book. (It is a nice book though, and some of these houses are beautiful).

While this may not appeal to everyone I was thrilled to get this book. It features small modern Japanese gardens in modern Architecturally designed homes in Japan. The cover photo hints at this.I am renovating my small garden in New Zealand and it is great to see true Japanese gardens that fit a modern landscape. This book is a showcase of the work of architects and designers (most with a sleek minimalist interior decor) It has lots of inspirational photos - many of which you will need some understanding of Japanese gardening and living style to fully absorb.The words aren't very meaningful - a sales pitch rather than anything informative (and why I only gave 4 stars).This is one of the few books to showcase modern gardens.