I wouldn't say I'm fascinated by it but it probably has something to do with the culture and philosophical ideologies that the west is exposed to in TV and movies.
When we see these gardens we picture peaceful monks or martial artists practicing their craft with deadly precision, but a peaceful flow.
We picture grand masters kneeling on cushions, teaching their students how to live a fulfilling life with honor and integrity.

Some of the most peaceful philosophies have made their way out of the eastern world and many of them use nature in their analogies and writings.
Take Taoism for example. A philosophy, put forward by Lao Tzu, which says that you can only become enlightened if you become one with nature.

I'm not an architect, but I wouldn't be surprised if the angles used to build these structures were designed specifically to make it look more peaceful and natural.

So it's not a surprise that people are astounded and fascinated by these structures and gardens.
The media, your college studies, and the architecture itself has made it so that this feeling is almost inevitable.

I have lived in Asia for 3 years, and these architectures are the equivalent to seeing like, the Statue of Liberty in the U.S. They aren't on every street corner man, haha.

But yes, they are very nice on the eyes. And when you do decide to take a day trip out to see places like this, it is very peaceful.

So, no, you aren't the only one! I find them beautiful too.

I'll recommend this book to you, I'm fascinated by Japan and it's such a visually amazing book.

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Kinda reminds me of Castle from WaW lmao

-YoungSinatra wrote Kinda reminds me of Castle from WaW lmao

Well I mean that map was in Japan, one of my favorites BTW haha

I'm not to fascinated by the gardens themselves, but I'm AMAZED by who maintains them. Every time I see a super nice garden like that, it's always a super old oriental woman (home owner) maintaining it. I don't know why it's the women, but I rarely see men doing the work unless on the rare occasion the homeowner hires someone.

You are definitely not the only one OP, evert book or film I see/read the country intrigues me so much. It's beautiful.

They are indeed beautiful, they just look so peaceful.