Originally Posted by LapLap
Be careful when you ask about seeing ‘modern gardens’ as for many people this will mean ‘lawns’ which are a relatively recent import to Japan. Koraku En near Okayama is often a disappointment to people from Europe as, out of the ‘top three’ gardens, this is the one that most closely resembles a western one.
Phew!! Having seen your picture of
koraku en,
jpatokal, I was concerned that I was spouting rubbish*, especially as I hadn't been there myself (just heard the reports back)
As
Kenroku en in Kanazawa is so far off your itinerary, you can enjoy a virtual tour
here. The Kenroku en homepage is
here.
(* worse than usual anyway!
)
Robyng, you asked about day trips. There is another garden which is highly regarded within Inuyama. It's kind of out of the way, but do'able if you step out of the Shinkansen on the way to/from Kyoto at Nagoya and then continue to Inuyama yuen with the Meitetsu train line (about 30 minutes). It's called
Uraku en and is in the grounds of the Inuyama Meitetsu Hotel. Here's a diagram of the garden
http://www.m-inuyama-h.co.jp/urakuen/annai.html (open the url using a translation tool ie. Google's for names such as 'Kettle mountain sea' & 'The Yuraku taste well curb') Directions and opening times
here There is a strong emphasis on the flowers in this garden rather than shapes and spaces.
Q Shoe Guy mentioned
suizenji koen and I was curious to know what it was like. I found a photo album
here (pictures 1 to 20)
EDIT: Q Shoe Guy notes in the next page that these photos are not representative of the park in April. It should be bursting with colour then.
There are some photos of
Sankei en (Yokohama) mentioned by
vsobotta here More specialised photos (with close ups of flowers in June)
here.
I've been reminded of something Alan Booth wrote about his meeting a gardener based in Kanazawa (who studied in Kyoto). He asked what was so special about the garden at Ryoanji (Kyoto). The gardener replied; 'the spaces between the rocks'.
abmj-jr - LOVE the photos! ^