Japanese gardens (niwa) are a Japanese landscape category, which derives from the Japanese aesthetic and philosophical ideas, and closely relates to Japanese religious and cultural rituals.

Represented by dry gardens, tea gardens and stroll gardens, Japanese gardens incorporate the miniaturization and abstraction of the natural landscape, taking the naturalistic approach to expand the use of gardens to include spirituality. Japanese garden design is also open to modern design adaptations. For landscape designers, the study of Japanese gardens provides both classical inspiration and novel landscape elements, which could be put into modern landscape design practice. This book presents a remarkable collection of Japanese garden design projects, which will inspire designers to greater heights of discovery and creation.