On Jan. 17, 1995, as the city of Kobe suffered one of the country's worst earthquakes in living memory, the rocks, artificial hills and root systems of Soraku-en, a Meiji period (1868-1912) circuit garden, held firm.

This was rather remarkable, given the extent of devastation experienced elsewhere in the city. Not that the garden was entirely spared. The main entrance to the 2-hectare grounds, made from zelkova, a now much-coveted hard wood, remained undamaged, but its side gates and sections of the adjacent walls collapsed. Even so, given the centrality of the garden, its survival was astonishing.

Visitors pass through this now thoroughly restored gate, modeled after the one at Kyoto's Shoren-in monastery, to access the garden. The foundations of Soraku-en were dug in 1885, but the garden was not completed until 1911. It was eventually opened to the public in 1941. There were only a few visitors when I turned up, though a crew of photographers, makeup women and lighting staff were maneuvering two pairs of traditionally dressed newly wed couples into perfectly framed scenes.