A garden complete with a tea ceremony house opened April 17 in the National Showa Memorial Park, which is dedicated to the Emperor Showa and spans the two Tokyo municipalities of Tachikawa and Akishima.
The 6-hectare garden, the largest one built in the metropolitan area since the end of World War II, is expected to prove a popular attraction. The garden, designed by the late designer Kenzo Kosugi and completed at an estimated cost of 2.5 billion yen, encircles a pond complete with a waterfall.
The tea house is on the west of the pond and will be available for various functions. Red leaf and other deciduous trees have been planted in the pattern of a mixed forest of the suburban Musashino area. Katsumi Iizuka, chief of planning at the Showa Kanri Center of the Park Greenery Administration Foundation, said his organization hopes to foster an awareness among future generations of the Japanese garden culture.