{"id":41245,"date":"2017-04-08T13:20:05","date_gmt":"2017-04-08T17:20:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/?p=41245"},"modified":"2017-05-26T07:34:07","modified_gmt":"2017-05-26T11:34:07","slug":"jq-magazine-book-review-japanese-garden-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/2017\/04\/08\/jq-magazine-book-review-japanese-garden-notes\/","title":{"rendered":"JQ Magazine: Book Review \u2014 \u2018Japanese Garden Notes\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Keane is the perfect person to expound on the finer aspects of the Japanese garden. Reading Japanese<\/em> Garden<\/em> Notes<\/em> basically transports you to a museum as the text is similar to the interpretation you\u2019d receive from a seasoned docent.\u00a0(Stone Bridge Press)<\/p><\/div>\n

By<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Rashaad <\/em><\/strong>Jorden<\/em><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(<\/em><\/strong>Yamagata-<\/em><\/strong>ken<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, 2008-10) <\/em><\/strong>for<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>JQ\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>magazine<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. <\/em><\/strong>A<\/em><\/strong> former<\/em><\/strong> head<\/em><\/strong> of<\/em><\/strong> the<\/em><\/strong> JETAA<\/em><\/strong> Philadelphia<\/em><\/strong> Sub<\/em><\/strong>–<\/em><\/strong>Chapter<\/em><\/strong>, <\/em><\/strong>Rashaad<\/em><\/strong> is<\/em><\/strong> a<\/em><\/strong> graduate<\/em><\/strong> of<\/em><\/strong> Leeds<\/em><\/strong> Beckett<\/em><\/strong> University<\/em><\/strong> with<\/em><\/strong> a<\/em><\/strong> master<\/em><\/strong>\u2019<\/em><\/strong>s<\/em><\/strong> degree<\/em><\/strong> in<\/em><\/strong> responsible<\/em><\/strong> tourism<\/em><\/strong> management<\/em><\/strong>. <\/em><\/strong>For<\/em><\/strong> more<\/em><\/strong> on<\/em><\/strong> his<\/em><\/strong> life<\/em><\/strong> abroad<\/em><\/strong> and<\/em><\/strong> enthusiasm<\/em><\/strong> for<\/em><\/strong> taiko<\/em><\/strong> drumming<\/em><\/strong>, <\/em><\/strong>visit<\/em><\/strong> his<\/em><\/strong> blog<\/em><\/strong> at<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>www.<\/em><\/strong>gettingpounded.<\/em><\/strong>wordpress.<\/em><\/strong>com<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

One Golden Week afternoon after exploring Okayama Castle, I decided to stroll over to nearby K\u014draku-en Garden<\/a>. Mainly because it was there and I wasn\u2019t sure what else to do in Okayama. But once I stepped on the premises of the garden, a sense of serenity fell over me as did the feeling I felt like I had found a gem, as well as a place where time stood still.<\/p>\n

What is the world of these elegant locales like? Landscape architect and author Marc Peter Keane<\/a> answers that question and more in Japanese Garden Notes: A Visual Guide to Elements and Design<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear that Keane, a garden designer and Kyoto resident for roughly twenty years, will explain \u201cwhat makes a Japanese garden feel the way it does\u201d largely through photographs. But what will readers be looking at? Pretty much Japanese<\/em> Gardens<\/em> 101<\/em>, as each chapter bears the name of a concept or feature present in Japanese gardens like meandering paths, arbor bridges, streams, and more. A phrase further describing the main concept appears prior to the explanations in each chapter and those descriptions run the gamut from the profound (\u201cA meandering path is full of surprises\u201d) to the explanatory regarding the appearance of the garden (\u201cLinking a distant part of the garden with the foreground\u201d) to the borderline hilarious (\u201cJapan is wet, thus the dry garden.\u201d).<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Keane is the perfect person to expound on the finer aspects of the Japanese garden. Reading Japanese<\/em> Garden<\/em> Notes<\/em> basically transports you to a museum as the text is similar to the interpretation you\u2019d receive from a seasoned docent.<\/p>\n

The language Keane uses to educate readers about Japanese gardens is relatively simple and nothing remotely academic. The author also at times resembles an old man telling stories about life back in the day (\u201cSeeing the changes reminds you of what has gone,\u201d he writes in the section devoted to utsuroi<\/em> (change), adding \u201cyou sense that is the only permanent thing\u201d). That rather conversational tone makes Japanese<\/em> Garden<\/em> Notes<\/em> a pleasant read, such as when Keane outlines the simple (or maybe not so simple) steps of making a path comprised of small stones. Keane comes alive as a tour guide when detailing the various aspects of Japanese gardens.<\/p>\n

The captions of the photographs also provide interesting tidbits about these gardens, even when some of the captions don\u2019t say anything profound (\u201cThe garden is a place within which to contemplate the passing of the seasons\u201d) or are just explanatory. But several of them reveal how the objects in the pictures enhance the appearance of the Japanese garden (\u201cThe arrangement of unusual stones and a pine tree represents a crane island: a symbol of longevity\u201d). A lot of gardens are represented visually in the book and every page features at least one photograph, which puts the concepts and features that Keane illustrates into practice.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s fitting that the author compiled a large list of features that complete a Japanese garden. As he notes, \u201cthis attention to detail pervades the whole culture of Japan and is evident in the design of its gardens as well.\u201d Keane excels at conveying how seemingly miniscule details contribute significantly to creating a peaceful, soothing atmosphere. While Japanese<\/em> Garden<\/em> Notes<\/em> is not in any way the first book to turn to in order to obtain extensive historical background about Japanese gardens, it captures the elegance of such a calming place.<\/p>\n

For<\/em><\/strong> more<\/em><\/strong> on<\/em><\/strong> Japanese<\/strong> Garden<\/strong> Notes<\/strong>, click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

For<\/strong><\/em> more<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>JQ<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>magazine<\/strong><\/em> book<\/strong><\/em> reviews<\/strong><\/em>,<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>click here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By\u00a0Rashaad Jorden\u00a0(Yamagata-ken, 2008-10) for\u00a0JQ\u00a0magazine. A former head of the JETAA Philadelphia Sub–Chapter, Rashaad is a graduate of Leeds Beckett University with a master\u2019s degree in responsible tourism management. For more on his life abroad and enthusiasm for taiko drumming, visit his blog at\u00a0www.gettingpounded.wordpress.com. One Golden Week afternoon after exploring Okayama Castle, I decided to stroll […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4,40,58],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41245","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articlejournalism","category-books","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pkZ7m-aJf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41245","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41245"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41245\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41248,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41245\/revisions\/41248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41245"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41245"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jetwit.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41245"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}