Murin-an Wild Bird Mini-lecture

On the afternoon of August 28 (Wed.), in the 8-tatami mat space of the main house’s first floor, we held a mini-lecture on the Eurasian Nuthatch. While we were explaining why in Japan this bird is called a “forest ninja” and the strange things it does to build a nest, the lecture’s 30 minutes blew by before we knew it.

Today,we are open from 9:00am.

Today,we are open from 9:00am.

The typhoon has passed, no major damage occurred at Murin-an garden.
Our entire staff awaits your visit to Murin-an today!

We closed the garden 8/15 because of the typhoon.

We closed the garden 8/15 because of the typhoon.
We will post a notice on this Facebook account when it opens on 8/16.

Thank you.

A Rainbow Over the Higashiyama Mountains

At evening, at a time when the sky suddenly cleared, for just a moment there was a rainbow that could be seen together with the rising mist from the Higashiyama valley making the mountain ridge before it shine.

(Staff Eyes) Pruning a Fir Tree

We pruned the fir on the northeast side of the main house. We pruned it so that the breeze now passes through it easily. By allowing wind to pass through the tree, we help prevent it from falling over during typhoons and other strong wind events.

(Staff Eyes) The Common Glider Flies

We encountered a black and white butterfly on top of a leaf dappled in sunlight. It continued its pose of flying around and then slightly stretching its wings to rest before finally flying deeper into the garden. This butterfly has a unique white striped pattern set against brown and black colored wings.

Murin-an Wild Bird Mini-lecture

On the afternoon of July 31 (Wed.), we held a comprehensive lecture on the lifestyles of wild birds and how they make use of Murin-an’s gardens and its trees.
At the end of the lecture, we had our participants look at picture postcards of the Murin-an wild birds discussed at our first fifty lectures and enjoy their colorful illustrations.

Information About Murin-an’s Visitors

On the afternoon of July 26 (Fri.), Japanese Friendship Garden of Phoenix (Ro Ho En) Executive Director Reiko Yasui visited Murin-an!

Together with Tomoki Kato, the president of Ueyakato Landscape, the designated management company for Murin-an, Ms. Yasui gave a talk in the main house about garden technology and the intent behind Murin-an’s design. After the talk, she took a walk around the garden with us.

Ro Ho En was constructed in 1987 through joint efforts made by Phoenix and Hyogo Prefecture’s Awaji after the two became sister cities in 1976.
https://www.japanesefriendshipgarden.org/

For us as well, it is a great pleasure to be able to use the theme of Japanese gardens to connect with the world. We look forward to exchanging more information with Executive Director Yasui in the future!

Weekend Garden Guide

We gave guided tours of the garden on July 20 and 21 (Sat. & Sun.).
Thanks to the rain that lasted until yesterday, the moist soil gave the plants a richly verdant and varied look.
There were also moments of the tours where we encountered gardeners at work and had them explain what work they were doing.
Participants on Sunday showed an interest in the wildflowers and other plants, so we explained to them about the trees in Murin-an that are connected to Yamagata Aritomo.

Japanese Gardening History, No. 2

On the afternoon of July 21 (Sun.), Ueyakato Landscape president Tomoki Kato gave his second lecture on Japanese gardening history at Kyoto International Community House!

This lecture’s theme began from the Kamakura period (1185-1333), the age of the dry landscape (or karesansui) garden! We learned that the period up until this time had seen the evolution of natural landscape gardens and that gardens change according to each period!

Muso Soseki, the founder of Tenryu-ji Temple, was a Zen monk of the Rinzai school during the early Muromachi period. Through his on-screen presentation, Mr. Kato explained for us the gardens whose creation Muso was involved in and the gardens in Kyoto that bear some connection to him. It was a two-hour session brimming with an abundance of garden knowledge.