Gardens
New eBook! The Kyu-Asakura House
It’s finally time for a new eBook! This time it will be again about a garden – but also about an old traditional Japanese house! I am actually surprised how many old houses survived in Tokyo until now and how many of them are open to the public to visit! The former Asakura Residence […]
New eBook! Japanese Garden History Part 1 – The Heian Period
The rainy season keeps everyone inside and in front of the computer. Me included. Unfortunately.. But actually, this is to your advantage! Else I wouldn’t do as much on RJG as I do now ^_- Finally I was able to finish the next eBook! I started to work on this series maybe three years ago […]
New eBook! Mukōjima-hyakkaen
Summer arrived in Japan! Finally it got really really hot and the mosquito are out and try to keep us away from gardens. But who is a real garden lover will not give in to these tiny little insects and will find other ways to indulge in our passion. Maybe with sitting outside, but far […]
“Weed” is subjective – “Dokudami” in Japan
The first time I came in contact with Houttuynia cordata was during my work in the Botanical Garden in Hamburg / Germany. However, it was not the common one, but the variety “Chameleon”, which is not as vigorous as the normal Houttuynia. Nonetheless, I hated to work inside them because I couldn’t stand the […]
New eBook! Tonogayato-teien
It is the end of the month and I guess by now you all already know that this is the time for a new eBook! For June I chose to publish the eBook about Tonogayato-teien in Kokubunji. Kokubunji is a city belonging to Tokyo, but not to the inner 23 wards. From my former home […]
The most popular plants in Japanese private gardens
It’s been almost two months since I’m working in Real Japanese Gardens. Few times per week we spend in the construction sites doing maintenance and planting. In this article I would like to tell you more about the most common plants we are working with. They are easy to care and can grow well outdoor. In Japan […]
New eBook! Happo-en
Already one month passed since I published the last eBook.. It seems like yesterday! However, I had to think hard which eBook to publish next but decided on Happō-en because it is a garden with a very unique history. When I first visited Happō-en, I was very uncertain. The garden is attached to several restaurants, […]
New eBook! Nezu-Museum
The garden of the Nezu-Museum is not the only museum garden in our series of “Secret Gardens in Tokyo”. It may seem odd to add such gardens, however, most of them have the history of an old garden and deserve their place on our website. I visited the Museum and its garden for the first […]
New eBook! Kyu-Furukawa Teien
With the last eBook about Shōren-in I made an exception, but now I continue with the “Secret gardens of Tokyo” series! This time I researched and wrote about the Kyu-Furukawa Teien. I never wanted to visit this garden in the first place, because I thought it would be a western style residence with rose garden […]
The Nezu Museum in contrast to so-called Japanese gardens in the western world.
On a weekend day in early March, I visited the Nezu Museum in Tokyo’s Aoyama area. I am not a great fan of museums. I never was. While I have no problem with paying 500 Yen for visiting a garden, I have with paying 1000 Yen and know I will only visit and enjoy half […]