AbstractJohn Cage_s interest in Japanese gardens came to the fore in the series of instrumental works Ryoanji (1983-1985), and the related visual art works Where R=Ryoanji (1983- 1992). In this paper the author proposes that the aesthetics of Japanese traditional gardens can provide insights into Cage_s work as a whole. Traditional Japanese aesthetics, which permeate garden design, tea culture, poetry and the other arts, had a significant impact on Western modernism. The _Zen boom_ in the West, in which Cage played an important part, furthered the perceived relationship between Japanese aesthetics, Zen Buddhism and modernism. The dry stone garden at Ryoanji came to exemplify the spirit of Zen in garden design. In relationship to the work of Cage, many aspects of traditional gardens are relevant: the preference for asymmetry, the importance of empty space, the borrowed view, the use of re-purposed materials, and the acceptance of limitations either imposed by available space and resources or as.....