In the mid nineteenth century as Japan rapidly modernized garden building declined in popularity. Only in the late nineteenth century did a new class of political and business leaders revive interest in horticulture seeking garden designs that broke away from established patterns. As a result these innovative gardens were largely overlooked by early Japanese garden historians and excluded from the canon they sought to establish. In recent years both scholars and the public have begun to reexamine and appreciate these gardens and their creators. Now recognized as part of Japan's national heritage these sites are being integrated into the history of Japanese horticulture. Christian Tagsold's book examines this rediscovery unraveling the complex dynamics of nature heritage nationhood and modernity in Japan through the lens of these gardens. |Turning Gardens in Japan into Japanese Gardens Nation Nature Heritage and Modernity since the 1890s
