Part of a special issue on the garden as contemporary art. In an interview, Günter Nitschke discusses contemporary Japanese gardens. Topics discussed include the work of Mirei Shigemori and Kenzo Tange; the use of synthetic materials in Japanese gardens; the contemporary attitudes that have developed over the past 20 years to garden design in Japan; the importance of awareness of ecological systems for garden designers; and the sense of the ecstatic union of nature that he believes can be recreated in a garden.