Japanese gardens are fascinating expressions of landscape art. Their beauty speaks to everyone. What is behind this beauty? Why do the gardens of Japan speak to us so strongly? This volume delves into questions of beauty and ideas of nature expressed in the visual and literary arts of Japan as well as notions of taste and creativity in garden making. It goes beyond the popular understanding of Japanese gardens and locates them in a larger social and cultural context, revealing not only how gardeners conceived their works, but also how gardens functioned during key periods in classical, medieval, and early modern Japanese history. Revised and thoroughly updated, Themes in the History of Japanese Garden Art presents new, thought-provoking interpretations of the evolution of Japanese garden art. Its depth and much-needed emphasis on a practical context for garden creation will appeal to art and literary historians as well as scholars, students, and appreciators of garden and landscape art, Asian and Western.