The first profound depiction of the great reformer of Japanese garden design in the twentieth century Mirei Shigemori decisively shaped the development of Japanese landscape architecture in the twentieth century. He founded the Kyoto Garden Society in 1932 and published the 26-volume Illustrated Book on the History of the Japanese Garden in 1938. One year later he designed his own first masterwork, the garden of the main hall of Tôfuku-ji Temple. Between then and his death in 1975, he went on to design 240 gardens throughout Japan. Among the most famous are the Tenrai-an tea garden (1969) and the Matsuo Taisha garden (1975). All of his gardens are distinguished by the fact that they honor tradition while at the same time – through their openness to Western modernity – they free themselves from its weight and develop a language of their own. The first part of the book will deal with Shigemori’s life and influences, including his interest in ikebana and tea ceremonies. The second part will offer detailed presentations of some seventeen different gardens. Mirei Shigemori prägte maßgeblich die Entwicklung der japanischen Landschaftsarchitektur im 20. Jahrhundert. Seit den 1920er Jahren tätig, gründete er 1932 die Kyotoer Gartengesellschaft und publizierte 1938 das 26-bändige Werk Illustrated Book on the History of the Japanese Garden. Ein Jahr später entwarf er sein erstes eigenes Meisterwerk, den Garten bei der Haupthalle des Tôfuku-ji Tempels. Von da an gestaltete er 240 Gärten in ganz Japan bis zu seinem Tod 1975; zu den berühmtesten gehören der Teegarten Tenrai-an (1969) und der Matsuo Taisha-Garten (1975). Kennzeichen seiner Gärten ist, dass sie die Tradition ehren und sich zugleich – in der Öffnung gegenüber den Einflüssen der westlichen Moderne – von dem Althergebrachten durch eine eigene Sprache lösen. Der erste Teil des Buches wird sich mit dem Leben Shigemoris und den Einflüssen auf sein Werk auseinandersetzen. Dabei wird auch seine Auseinandersetzung mit Ikebana und Teezeremonien eine Rolle spielen. Der zweite Teil wird etwa 17 Gärten ausführlich darstellen.

Mirei Shigemori had a major impact on the development of Japanese landscape architecture in the twentieth century. Active from the 1920s, he founded the Kyoto Garden Society in 1932. In 1939 he designed his own first masterpiece, the garden at the main hall of the Tôfuku-ji temple. From then on he designed 240 gardens all over Japan until his death in 1975; amongst the most famous are the Tenrai-an tea garden (1969) and the Matsuo Taisha garden (1975). The main characteristic of his gardens is that they respect tradition and, at the same time, depart from conventional paradigms by opening up to the influence of Western modernism with its own language. The first part of the book covers Shigemori’s life and factors that influenced his work. The second part contains a detailed illustration of 17 gardens. The book is published as a new and revised edition.