FEATURED BOOK REVIEW

Ouchi, Tanseki, 1964

Stones of Kyoto: How to Identify and Collect Them

Rating: Excellent, an important early work for learning about the stones of the Kamo River and its tributaries.

Tokuma Shoten. 210 pages. 1964.

By Hiromi Nakaoji

This book is an integral part of the story behind this month’s feature article, Seven Stones of Kyoto. The author, Ouchi Tanseki, lived in Kyoto where he documented and promoted the role of the region’s native stones. Ocuhi’s volume consists of two major parts: one on illustrated stones of Kyoto, and the other on how to appreciate and collect stones. Ouchi covered not just suiseki but garden stones and fossils. The first part introduced 60 suiseki and four pages of garden stones. Each suiseki had a photo and a story behind the stone, which makes this book very interesting. In the second part, Ouchi described the seven stones of the Kamo River. When this book was published, suiseki in Japan was booming; It is easy to imagine that many suiseki hobbyists went to find good stones in the areas introduced in this book. This book is a comprehensive guide to understanding stones from Kyoto.