Austin: Isamu Taniguchi Japanese Garden
From Zilker Garden website: "Opened to the public in 1969, the Garden was built by Mr. Taniguchi when he was seventy years old. Working without a salary or a contract, Mr. Taniguchi spent 18 months transforming 3 acres of rugged caliche hillside into a peaceful garden. As is often done in Japan, the ponds were designed in the shape of a word or ideogram. In this case, the ponds in the first half of the garden spell out the word "AUSTIN", reflecting the fact that these gardens were constructed as a gift to the city. The remains of the Mother Tree, which inspired Mr. Taniguchi to complete his building of the garden, overlooks the pond.
The Togetsu-kyo bridge or "Bridge to Walk Over the Moon" is theoretically positioned so that, when the moon is high, it reflects in the water and follows you across the bridge. The idea is that as you gaze at the reflection of the moon on the water's surface, ultimate universal beauty will be revealed to you."
Indeed, the Japanese Garden was the highlight of our visit to the Zilker Park's Botanical Garden. In fact, the rest of the garden was a bit of a disappointment even though irises and some trees and shrubs were flowers were out in the neighbourhood gardens there wasn't any flowers in the rest of the garden. In fact, much of the garden looked like it needed a good weeding. The children's garden was just sad. Enough said!
Here are a baker's dozen of postcards from Isamu Taniguchi's Japanese Garden. Hope you enjoy!
