Calculated art of contemporary Japanese gardens

TOKYO -- In the latest James Bond film, "No Time to Die" (2021), Blofeld, 007's tireless nemesis, is seen sauntering through a neo-Japanese garden built inside a biochemical plant on a disputed island somewhere between Japan and Russia. In this dystopian landscape, junipers, pruned into models of Japanese topiary, are made from Velcro, rocks from silicone.

Creations like this are nowhere near as far-fetched as they sound. In my research into the contemporary Japanese garden, I have come across materials as synthetic as carbon fiber, translucent polycarbonate, and treated concrete. I have seen garden rocks made from shimmering fiberglass and hardened plastic.