goes without saying that anyone who goes to Japan, or who writes of anything Japanese, must have read them.
I have drawn on many other books both for facts and garden lore, but have acknowledged it always in the accompanying text, but as far as I know no other book on this exact topic—Japanese Gardens—exists.
While I do not mention them by name, my deep thanks are also due to numerous Japanese friends, made in Hong-Kong and London as well as during several long sojourns in their country, and to many garden owners, both rich and poor, peasant and noble, in that pleasant land, who, through the medium of mutual sympathy and enthusiasm, helped me to love and keenly to appreciate the beautiful results—as well as the art that created them—of the gardens of Japan.
HARRIET OSGOOD TAYLOR
