Gerard Taaffe - The Japan Times

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Dec 26, 2002

Time seems to fly by. With 2003 just around the corner, major housework operations are in order to enter the year with everything sparkling. Garden companies, too, will be busy cleaning up gardens. Pruning pine trees and cutting hedges, known as hagari (lit. "leaf-cutting") is an important part of the...

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Nov 28, 2002

Autumn chilly spell yields a spectacular cast of colors

This year, the autumn color has been truly magnificent in the Kansai region, primarily thanks to the Japanese maple. Every year, these trees are almost guaranteed to deliver wonderful yellow-and-red fall foliage, but this year the sudden drop in temperature in the first few days of November pushed into...

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Oct 24, 2002

Aliens add to autumn show

Autumn in Japan is a colorful season, and not only because of the famed koyo foliage of its trees. In gardens, fields and roadsides, too, flowers burst forth as if to celebrate the return of sensible weather after the long, sweaty rigors of summer. However, some of the best-known blooms of this fall...

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Oct 10, 2002

Nurturing nature in an urban sprawl

At a mere 374 meters high, Arima-Fuji in Hyogo Prefecture is hardly on a par with the Kanto peak whose name it shares, but its conical shape does bear a passing resemblance. Though it's almost all clothed with pleasent woodland, from the bare rocky areas near the summit there are good views of the surrounding...

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Sep 26, 2002

Trees that tower over the past and present

An visitor to Kyoto's world-famous gardens and temples could not fail to be awed by the stands and avenues of towering Kitayama sugi (Japanese red cedar, or peacock pine; Cryptomeria japonica).

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Sep 12, 2002

In praise of grass, glorious grass

Summer's heat is lingering on, but there are hints in the air that the glorious days of autumn are just around the corner. Fall in Japan is exciting for its famed tree foliage, but the weather is also perfect for gardening -- or for visiting parks during your lunch break or on days off.

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Aug 22, 2002

Blooms to brighten summer's days -- and nights

Japan's floral symbol of summer, the asagao (morning glory; Ipomoea purpurea) is an interesting climber with beautiful blooms that has been cultivated on these islands for more than 1,000 years since being brought from China during the Nara Period (710-784). Before that, its origins are a matter of some...

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Aug 8, 2002

A wetland wonderland way out west

In Tessei town in western Okayama, there is a wetland called Koi-ga-kubo Shitsugen whose range of rare and interesting flora makes even the difficulty of getting there well worthwhile.

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Jul 25, 2002

Expense no object at Meiji jewel in Kobe's crown

Though it's neither very large nor very old, Sorakuen Garden in Kobe is one of the best-designed pond-strolling gardens (kaiyushiki-sensui-teien) I know, with many interesting features and plants of exceptionally high quality.

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Jul 11, 2002

Osaka's peaceful heart

In 1972, two years after the Japan International Exposition in Osaka, redevelopment work began on the site. The result, eight years later, was the 260-hectare Expolands Green Oasis, which has now matured into a wonderful parkland with a wide range of attractions and facilities.

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Jun 27, 2002

A temple, park and Heian pond in one

Daikakuji Temple in northwest Kyoto started life in the lyrical Heian Period as Saga-in, the Detached Palace of Emperor Saga, who reigned from 809 until he abdicated and went to live there permanently in 823. Then in 876, his daughter Princess Shoshi designated Saga-in to be converted into a Buddhist...

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Jun 13, 2002

Water, water irises everywhere

For those who live in Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, tsuyu officially began last week. Although in some years little or no rain falls in this rainy season, I personally always hope the heavens open to give some respite from the relentless heat.

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

May 23, 2002

Dallying where daimyo strolled

Next time you find yourself in Okayama Prefecture, down by the beautiful Seto Inland Sea in western Honshu, you could do worse than allow some time to visit Shuraku-en Park, a well-known historical garden in the Sanyo district of Tsuyama.

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

May 9, 2002

Prime greenery in the making

Lying between Kyoto and Nara, Uji City straddles the Uji River, a tributary of the Yodogawa. This same river also drains Lake Biwa, Japan's largest freshwater lake, though upstream -- where it passes through Shiga Prefecture -- its name is Etagawa.

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Apr 25, 2002

Savor 'Buddha's spirit' kept secret for a century

The Arashiyama area in western Kyoto along the banks of the Katsura River is famous for its cherry blossoms in spring and its glorious autumn foliage. Until this month, a less popular attraction had been the gardens of Hogonin Temple, a sub-temple of Tenryuji Zen Temple -- largely because they had been...

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Apr 11, 2002

Trip through time at Tokyo's verdant royal hub

The Imperial Palace grounds are, without doubt, Tokyo's green heart. Located inside a 6.4-km ring of walls and moats that were once the inner defensive perimeter of Edo Castle, this verdant oasis now covers 115 hectares in all, with evergreen woodlands overlooking the moats and creating a very special...

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Mar 28, 2002

Zen gardens wondrous to behold, and not

I like nothing better than to go and explore gardens and to let my imagination ponder on what's to be seen. Kyoto has plenty of places just waiting to be discovered, and the best way to go and see its gardens and temples is either on foot or by local bus.

COMMUNITY

Mar 24, 2002

How does your balcony garden grow?

If you're chafing about the city's dearth of green spaces, but you're blessed with a balcony, you could make your own garden. It could be your little contribution toward greening the city. If you haven't tried it before, you might be pleasantly surprised by how much joy a tiny space brimming with leaves...

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Mar 14, 2002

Garden jewels in the Tofukuji Temple crown

Tofukuji Temple is one of Kyoto's most magnificent jewels and is one of the city's 17 UNESCO-designated World Heritage sites.

ENVIRONMENT / GARDENS FOR ALL

Feb 28, 2002

Ferns: as mysterious as they are ancient

Ferns are very old plants that long predate the dinosaurs and were already abundant during the Carboniferous Period 350 million years ago, when many species grew in treelike form. Nowadays, they are perfect for bringing a natural feeling to gardens, and complementing trees and shrubs.

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