Ever since I was living in Japan, I became a big fan of Japanese gardens. Coming to think of it, I did have a connection to gardening since a long time. My grandfather took me to his garden many times and we were seeding, cultivating, and harvesting many plants. Then later in elementary school, I joined the gardening circle; some kind of after school activity, which I enjoyed back then. Then later, during my stay at Antaiji, I was cultivating rice fields, building canals, and harvesting the rice grains. During this time, I really became to appreciate hard work on fields. Whenever I took a train through Japan and saw some old people working on the fields, I felt nothing but respect; for I know how tough this work can be.
Back to Houston. My third time there was actually very short. I arrived on a Sunday and left on the next Saturday. Fortunately, I was way ahead of schedule with work, so I took some time off on Friday to explore some parts of Houston I could not visit before.
One of these things was the Japanese garden located within Hermann Park south of Houston's museum district. When I was here in January, it was raining for most of the time and I wasn't exactly in the mood to visit a Japanese garden. In August however, the weather was superb (despite the pessimistic weather forecast) and I was looking for some escape from the rather unspectacular - almost boring - city.
The Japanese garden in Hermann Park was designed by Ken Nakajima, a world famous landscape architect. He died in 2000, so apparently, he did not see the finished version of his creation.
In a big city like Houston, a well designed park is a welcomed oasis of tranquility. The setting of the Japanese garden n Hermann park is well done. While straying through the area, one can find the typical Japanese stone lanterns and two houses, one of which is a tea house, I think. Unfortunatly, it was not opened when I visited.
Sakura was in full blossom, too, further Enriching the Japan-experience.
The tea house as seen from the other side of the pond. If I remember correctly, it stated at the entrance that professional photography is forbidden within the park without permission. I hope my pictures do not look professional enough. :)
There are even Koi to be found within the water. Here as seen from one of the bridges.
The other end of the garden had a small pavillon.
All in all, a very recommended visit. One of my favorite places in Houston, so far. :)
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