Kumamoto En

Open Today 8 AM - 6 PM

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In Bloom Art & Culture Tours & Walks

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Gifted to San Antonio in 1989 by its sister city, Kumamoto, Japan, Kumamoto En is an authentic Japanese garden designed and built by Japanese landscape artists and craftsmen. (“En” means garden in Japanese.) In return, San Antonio presented Kumamoto with a log cabin from Fredericksburg, honoring the friendship between the two cities. Designed by Kiyoshi Yasui, the Emperor’s gardener, this carefully composed 85-by-85-foot space is modeled after a garden at the Emperor’s summer residence, shared with special permission. Every detail carries meaning, from the pond symbolizing the Pacific Ocean to the landscape features that nod to Mt. Fuji, Mt. Aso, and the Texas Hill Country. With stone walks, bamboo fences, granite lanterns, and soothing water elements throughout, Kumamoto En invites visitors to slow down, look closely, and enjoy a moment of calm.

Notice that the bamboo fences are each creat ed using a different, authentic styles of fence design.

The Garden horticulture team collaborates with garden specialists from Japan in order to coordinate plant selections and garden techniques in order to maintain an authentic approach to a Japanese Gar den.

Can you find turtle island in the pond with a Japanese black pine tree and stones that look like a turtle?

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