The art of the Japanese garden is a 1,500-year-old landscape design tradition that is still evolving, still instructive. Secret Teachings in the Art of Japanese Gardens explains the fundamental principles of this tradition and describes how those principles may be applied to a much wider range of environments than exists in Japan.
The Kumamoto En Japanese Garden is part of the Sister City relationship between Kumamoto City, Japan and San Antonio, Texas. It was constructed between March and April of 1989 by a team of carefully selected volunteer craftsmen and landscapers from Kumamoto, Kyoto, Tokyo, and San Antonio. This team included craftsmen from Yasuimoku Koumuten in Kyoto. The garden is patterned after the famous 300 year old Suizenji Park 水前寺 in Kumamoto and contains many of the same elements. These plaques in English and Japanese stand at the entrance to the Kumamoto En (pictured below).