Judith Clancy – författare

This travel pictorial and Japan travel guide captures the sites and soul of Kyoto—Japan''s historical and spiritual center. An elaborate kaleidoscope of craft, artistry and religion, Kyoto is one of the world''s most popular travel destinations. Art and design form the weft and warp of this vibrant 1,200-year-old city, home to hundreds of gardens, palaces, villas and magnificent wooden temples, including seventeen UNESCO World Heritage sites.Like a Zen koan, Kyoto defies easy description. Its citizens may work at Nintendo designing video games, at a company designing precision medical instruments, or sitting cross-legged meticulously affixing micro-thin flakes of gold foil onto a painting. All of them share a living heritage grounded in centuries of traditional culture.In Kyoto: City of Zen, local Kyoto expert Judith Clancy presents the most important gardens, temples, shrines and palaces of this ancient capital city and enduring cultural center. In addition to unveiling the city''s spiritual and historical riches, this travel book shares with readers the exquisite foods, artistic crafts, religious ceremonies and architectural traditions that have flourished in Kyoto for over a millennium. Tea ceremonies, calligraphy, weaving, pottery, painting, drama, and many more traditional arts and crafts are presented through more than 350 photographs by Ben Simmons, whose images capture the true essence of Kyoto. The city''s natural setting also comes into focus as you walk along leafy mountain paths and through spectacular parks and gardens viewing the best foliage each season has to offer.

"Bring the art and beauty of Japan to your garden with inspiration from Kyoto Gardens." —HGTV Gardens Featuring beautiful Japanese garden photography and insightful writing, Kyoto Gardens is a labor of love from master photographer Ben Simmons and Kyoto-based writer Judith Clancy. In their rocks and plants, empty spaces and intimate details—Kyoto''s gardens manifest a unique ability to provoke thought and delight in equal measure. These varied landscapes meld the sensuality of nature with the disciplines of cosmology, poetry and meditation. Japanese aristocrats created these gardens to display not just wealth and power, but cultural sensitivity and an appreciation for transcendent beauty. A class of professional gardeners eventually emerged, transforming Japanese landscape design into a formalized art. Today, Kyoto''s gardens display an enormous range of forms—from rock gardens display of extreme minimalism and subtle hues, to stroll gardens of luscious proportions and vibrant colors.In Kyoto Gardens Simmons'' photographs present a fresh and contemporary look at Kyoto''s most important gardens. Their beauty is enhanced and humanized by gardeners tending the grounds using the tools of their art. Clancy''s graceful text provides historical, aesthetic and cultural context to the Japanese gardens. Combining wonder and rigor, she describes how Kyoto''s most beloved gardens remain faithful to their founders'' creative spirit and conception. Journey to Kyoto''s thirty gardens with just a turn of a page, or use the handy maps to plan your trip.

This revised and updated edition of the Japan travel classic and cultural guide gets you wandering from downtown quarters to remote mountaintop temples and features expanded information on new museums and gardens now open year-round for viewing.Judith Clancy's expert research weaves a rich narrative of Kyoto's history, local lore, and artistic and religious background to guide you through your journey.Includes:31 explorations including 5 mountain routes, 17 World Heritage Sites, Arashiyama, Kiyomizu-dera, Philosopher's Walk, the city's 6 Zen temple complexes, and much moreDetailed maps tracing each routeOver 30 descriptive photosTips on etiquette and behaviorA full index to all sites and attractions"Exploring Kyoto by long-term resident Judith Clancy is an excellent guide to exploring Kyoto on foot."-Lonely Planet JapanReviews of author's previous Kyoto Machiya Restaurant Guide"Opens our eyes to the beauty of details.... In these days of digital tablet guides, it's heartwarming to find publishers still dedicated to producing books that have texture and spatial depth, the warmth that only paper, with its shadows and grain, can transmit."-Japan Times"Judith Clancy has done a great job of making her expertise available to the visitor to Kyoto with this travel guide, in a small edition to fit easily into a bag or backpack."-Vegetable Japan blog

The Japan travel classic and cultural guide gets you wandering from downtown quarters to remote mountaintop temples....

This revised and updated edition of the Japan travel classic and cultural guide gets you wandering from downtown quarters to remote mountaintop temples and features expanded information on new museums and gardens now open year-round for viewing.

Judith Clancy''s expert research weaves a rich narrative of Kyoto''s history, local lore, and artistic and religious background to guide you through your journey.

Includes:

31 explorations including 5 mountain routes, 17 World Heritage Sites, Arashiyama, Kiyomizu-dera, Philosopher''s Walk, the city''s 6 Zen temple complexes, and much moreDetailed maps tracing each routeOver 30 descriptive photosTips on etiquette and behaviorA full index to all sites and attractions

The only resource you need for travel to Japan!This award-winning guide puts the whole country in the palm of your hand. With a large pull-out map and tips on all the best sights, travelers can be sure they are seeing the best of Japan without wasting any time! Explore energetic, ever-changing Tokyo—or immerse yourself in the country's rich cultural past in ancient Kyoto. Take to Asia's best ski slopes in Hokkaido or sun yourself on the beach in subtropical Okinawa. Experience life as a monk on holy Mount Koya or soak in a steaming onsen hot spring in Kyushu. Do all this and more with Japan Travel Guide & Map. Easy to use, and with recommendations to suit every possible taste and budget, this book leads you straight to the very best that Japan has to offer, with no wasted effort. Experienced travel authors Rob Goss and Judith Clancy provide handy lists of "Don't Miss" sights and a series of capsule itineraries that enable you to see the sights in a limited amount of time.The new edition is fully updated with a new chapter on Kanazawa and the Japan Alps. With everything included in one neat pack, it's the only Japan travel guide you need to have a great trip.

Whether you are interested in this unique city's history or are planning to travel to Kyoto, Kyoto City of Zen will serve as inspiration and provide invaluable insight into Kyoto's culture.This travel pictorial and Japan travel guide captures the sites and soul of Kyoto—Japan's historical and spiritual center. An elaborate kaleidoscope of craft, artistry and religion, Kyoto is one of the world's most popular travel destinations. Art and design form the weft and warp of this vibrant 1,200-year-old city, home to hundreds of gardens, palaces, villas and magnificent wooden temples—including seventeen UNESCO World Heritage sites.Like a Zen koan, Kyoto defies easy description. Its citizens may work at Nintendo designing video games, at a company designing precision medical instruments, or sitting cross-legged meticulously affixing micro-thin flakes of gold foil onto a painting. All of them share a living heritage grounded in centuries of traditional culture.In Kyoto City of Zen, local expert Judith Clancy presents the most important gardens, temples, shrines and palaces of this ancient capital city and enduring cultural center. In addition to unveiling the city's spiritual and historical riches, this travel book shares with readers the exquisite foods, artistic crafts, religious ceremonies and architectural traditions that have flourished in Kyoto for over a millennium. Tea ceremonies, calligraphy, weaving, pottery, painting, drama, and many more traditional arts and crafts are presented through more than 350 photographs by Ben Simmons—whose images capture the true essence of Kyoto. The city's natural setting also comes into focus as the book guides you along leafy mountain paths and through spectacular parks and gardens—highlighting the best foliage each season has to offer.

"Bring the art and beauty of Japan to your garden with inspiration from Kyoto Gardens." —HGTV GardensBy design, Kyoto's gardens possess a unique ability to provoke deep contemplation and joy in equal measure. This book is a labor of love from master photographer Ben Simmons and longtime Kyoto-based writer Judith Clancy. It contains lyrical images and poetic essays describing Kyoto's most famous gardens—most of them now UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including:Kyoto's Old Imperial Palace Garden: A massive walled complex filled with flowering plants, trees and buildings which served as the official residence of the Japanese emperor for over 500 years before 1868 and is now a public park.Heian Jingu Shrine Garden: Constructed on the site of the ancient capital and filled with lush greenery, ponds, rocks, bridges and pavilions which float above the water, providing a sense of tranquility and natural beauty.Ginkaku-ji Pure Land Garden: An earthly paradise featuring a massive truncated mound of packed sand that is resculpted by hand daily, this site was originally designed as a private villa by one of Kyoto's rulers then turned into a Zen Buddhist temple upon his death.Kinkaku-ji Estate Garden: Perhaps Kyoto's most recognizable sight, a Golden Pavilion perched on the edge of a tranquil pond on whose smooth surface are reflected beautiful rocks and cypress trees placed all around it.Ryoan-ji Zen Rock Garden: The purest expression of a world in miniature, expressed as a sea of raked gravel with islands of natural stone and moss set in its midst, walled off from the outside world to provide a place for meditation and contemplation.Saiho-ji Moss Garden: Famed for its moist and soft, shimmering green covering of moss, this unique estate was designed in the 14th century and radically altered the art of the Japanese garden.Tofuku-ji Zen Garden: An ancient temple site which contains some of the best examples of a new "contemporary" gardening style pioneered by Mirei Shigemori in the early 20th century, featuring enormous rocks set in a sea of raked gravel and irregular checkboard squares set in a soft bed of moss ringed by azalea bushes.Plus two dozen other masterful gardens!Simmons' sensitive photos present a fresh, contemporary look at these timeless gardens while Clancy's graceful descriptions provides historic, aesthetic and cultural context. This new edition has been updated and revised, with many new photographs added.