Jardín Japonés
"I will be extremely pleased if our visit, even of a short duration, allows us to serve as a bridge [between Japan and Argentina] for a closer bond..."
(Akihito- May 15, 1967)
That was the expression and wish of the then heir prince to the Imperial Throne of Japan, Akihito, upon touching Argentine soil for the first time with his wife, Princess Consort Michiko.
Since 1989 Akihito has been the former Emperor of Japan, inaugurating the Heisei Era. More than half a century after these words were spoken, we can say that Akihito's wish was fulfilled, seeing today a Japanese garden in Buenos Aires that has endured over time, as a living and material expression of the friendship between Argentina and Japan.
For many, the Japanese Garden of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires is a place of dreams, a magical place where peace and harmony abound, offering its visitors an experience to treasure in their hearts. Its tranquility and natural wealth contrasts with the accelerated pace of the city, making visitors forget about everyday life and stop to take an internal journey.
The Japanese Garden was inaugurated on May 17, 1967, designed and built by the Japanese community, and later donated through the Embassy of Japan, to the Municipality of Buenos Aires, in gratitude to the Argentine people for being the country that gave them opened his arms in times of immigration.
The idea arose with the purpose of creating a beautiful lasting meeting place between the Japanese community and the heir princes to the imperial throne, Michiko and Akihito, who would soon come to Argentina. That visit, scheduled for May 1967, was a unique event without precedent, since for the first time, a member of the imperial family visited the country. The Japanese community and their descendants embraced the news with pride and joy: "the princes will visit us." Thus, with effort and dedication they managed, in just 50 days, to raise enough funds to create this unique and unmatched beauty in the City of Buenos Aires.
The years passed and the garden grew in admiration and prestige, to the point of being considered a "little Japan in Argentina" and a "lung of harmony and tranquility in the middle of the big city", being one of the places most chosen by travelers from all over the world in search of Japanese culture and inner peace. Due to this, in 2004, the Ministry of Tourism of the City of Buenos Aires declared the Japanese Garden a "site of tourist interest" and, in 2008, the National Executive Branch declared it "an asset of historical and artistic interest of the nation".
The Japanese Garden can be considered a living museum, where the whims of nature mix with the hand of man, delighting us in every moment of the day as the light becomes lighter or dimmer. From delicate cherry blossoms in July, violet water lilies in summer, bright yellow leaves of the ginkgo biloba in autumn, to paths of gigantic azaleas in September, they make each season of the year possess its charm and show the passage of time, the passage, of life itself. Some can walk it for half an hour, others, however, can spend hours and hours contemplating and savoring that synthesis of nature, that microcosm of paradise. It will depend on each one, to experience the silence, to allow themselves to feel and breathe that pure air that the Japanese Garden of Buenos Aires gives us.
Since 1989, the Argentine Japanese Cultural Foundation, in agreement with the Government of Buenos Aires, has been in charge of the administration of the Japanese Garden and is in charge of increasing the activities of dissemination of Japanese Culture through Conventions that were held inside and outside the Garden. Country.
In 2004, the Garden was declared of Tourist Interest by the Undersecretariat of Tourism of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires according to registration No. 742 SSTUR. Continuing with the Declarations in 2006.
By decree of the Presidency of the Nation N 652/2008, the Japanese Garden Cultural and Environmental Complex was declared “Asset of National Historical and Artistic Interest”. In November 2009, Law 3308 was passed by the Legislature of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires. Then, the Agreement is signed for 20 (twenty) more years, on September 23, 2010 to continue with the administration and care of the Japanese Garden and the Dissemination of Japanese Culture.
The Garden is currently known worldwide as the largest Japanese Garden outside of Japan.
Walking surrounded by bonsais, azaleas, kokedamas, orchids and cement lanterns is an unforgettable pleasure. It also has a Chashitsu (tea house): a space built especially to carry out the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. Ornamented with traditional elements, whose interior was imported from Japan, some of its components date back more than a hundred years. Its exquisite interior is handcrafted. An art room and a restaurant complete the tour.
Taking the Zen Garden as a model, it was redesigned in 1977 under the direction of landscape engineer Yasuo Inomata. In the park there is also a building that houses a cultural center; a Japanese cuisine restaurant; a nursery where you can buy plants (bonsai) and food for the lake's fish; and a store with Japanese crafts.
References and Photographs:
https://jardinjapones.org.ar/el-jardin
https://turismo.buenosaires.gob.ar/es/otros-establecimientos/jard%C3%ADn-japon%C3%A9s
02/2024
