Gather in the garden, foster the garden: Murin-an’s mission
“By widely communicating the value of Japanese gardens through Murin-an, we aim for garden management that uncovers the optimal balance between preservation and utilization.”
Murin-an has been designated a Place of Scenic Beauty by the Japanese government. A Place of Scenic Beauty is a building or artistic work that is protected by the Cultural Properties Protection Law as an Important Cultural Property.
Places of Scenic Beauty are therefore not permitted either to be freely remade or restored. They are treated as art objects with a highly public character, and it is therefore necessary for the people responsible for such places to carefully preserve them for the future.
A garden has a garden owner and a garden designer who are responsible for creating it. However, it also has the people who nurture and foster it.
A garden that exists today does so because of the tireless cooperative efforts made between national and local governments and researchers and skilled gardeners to preserve its garden-like quality. Without this effort, mossy areas would go bare, buildings would become damaged and the garden would be reduced to wasteland within a year. We believe that the best way by far to foster this garden-like quality is for people to visit the garden and be moved by its wondrous beauty.
The Murin-an management office strives to communicate accurately why the Murin-an garden has been taken care of so carefully and why it needs to be preserved.
