Calculated art of contemporary Japanese gardens

At its most radical, modern landscaping plays down ancient reverence for natural elements

The stone garden at Kishiwada Castle, near Osaka, replicates a scene from an ancient Chinese battle. (All photos by Stephen Mansfield)

STEPHEN MANSFIELD, Contributing writer

March 10, 2023 08:00 JST

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.