In modern cities, people generally have the desire to strike a proper balance between man and nature. This paper aims to discuss the method of using landforms in landscape design, particularly focusing on three functions of the landform: enclosure forming, viewpoint setting, and view setting. We selected Japanese gardens as case studies and adopted a three-layer model to classify a landscape design based on functions of the landform, site planning, and architectural planning. As a result, we have found some common methods of utilizing the unique landform characteristic to form an enclosed space and make viewpoints not to be seen, and to characterize various types of views, as a deep mountain view and a prospect view.