The 17th International Rose and Gardening Show (organized by a committee including The Mainichi Newspapers; official site http://www.bara21.jp) is on now at Seibu Prince Dome in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture!! Have you been? If not, take heart.
It runs through this Sunday the 17th.
As you know, it is one of Japan’s largest festivals of roses and beautiful gardens from around the world; the full view looks like the photo at right. This year’s theme is “Delicious Garden”—gardens you “join and experience,” close to daily life. Besides the familiar Rose Avenue, special programs and à la carte corners have appeared and are charming visitors.
An acquaintance who went just after the opening emailed impressions (in no particular order).
First, the top photo is the “Andersen Story Garden.” This year marks 210 years since the birth of Hans Chri
stian Andersen, and garden designer Yoshitani Keiko has given three-dimensional form to tales read in childhood—The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina and others. The acquaintance wrote: “Up close it was a gentle garden, meticulous in every detail, that made you think, That’s her! The ‘Red Shoes’ corner in the photo used red flowers and dark foliage so well it would make a gardening beginner gasp.”
Next is a corner for the rose “Ingrid Bergman,” named for the Swedish actress whose centenary falls this year (photo at left) (a TV camera was rolling). Inducted into the World Federation of Rose Societies Hall of Fame in 2000 and still loved, the acquaintance said, “A somewhat classical rose, but the deep crimson, dignified bloom has an adult elegance; I was drawn to its deep glow.”
Another is the garden of Benicia Stanley Smith, of British aristocracy (photo at right). It recreates the garden together with the lifestyle of Benicia, who grows herbs and seasonal plants at an old house in Ohara, Kyoto, living close to nature. The acquaintance: “I had only seen it on television, but it was recreated so realistically I felt I had stepped into the screen. Because it was pot plantings, there were more flowers and it seemed even grander than the real thing. The roses were not very prominent.”
There is also the special “Garden of the Wind” (photo below), from The Mainichi Newspapers’ Saitama edition—
recreating the garden from the drama of the same name by screenwriter Kuramoto So, based in Furano, Hokkaido.
Hours are 9:30–17:30, until 17:00 on the last day (last entry 30 minutes before close). Same-day tickets are 2,200 yen for adults (junior high and up); elementary pupils and under free with a guardian.