Japanese homes speak to the soul and provide a contemplative environment from which to experience the world. Japan Style offers rare glimpses into twenty exquisite traditional homes in Japan. The lavish photographs in this volume demonstrate how Japanese design achieves a timeless tranquility using a few very simple, natural elements. Wood is the preferred building material since it is considered a "living" material; the country's Shinto and Zen Buddhist roots have inculcated a deep respect for nature. The houses in this book are a wonderful reminder that there are alternatives to "big is beautiful"--and that neither timelessness nor modernity has to be about using cold steel, glass and concrete. The wabi-sabi ideal, translated loosely by Frank Lloyd Wright as a "rusticity and simplicity that borders on loneliness," is considered the epitome of sophistication in Japanese interior design. The houses in this book invite us to rethink the wisdom of our hurried modern lifestyle and return
