Japanese friendship garden
which transports the essence of Japanese culture and philosophy
to the sonoran desert inside the gates lies arizona’s
first authentic public Japanese garden 3.5 acres
of tranquility designed to be a place of meditation
and contemplation the garden is a shared vision
of sister cities phoenix arizona and himeji japan
the garden is an art form in japan as well as
a significant part of japanese culture and traditional
beauty how did the garden get its name well phoenix is known for the
Mythological phoenix bird in Japanese friendship garden
and himeji castle is known for the white heron these symbols make up the friendship garden’s japanese name ro ho n ro means heron
ho is the japanese word for the phoenix bird and n means garden more than 50 himeji landscape and garden architects contributed their knowledge and time to this project their guidance and expertise helped ensure the project would
Respect centuries of tradition by emulating the masters of the traditional
japanese garden designs
this wide expanse was transformed
into the friendship garden in three phases
before any construction could take place the
raw materials were needed specifically rock
and stone rock and stone are often described as the backbone
of the japanese garden all of the stone
and boulders came from locations around arizona
with the necessary rocks procured phase one construction
of the traditional japanese tea house and its garden began in 1995.
The structure was built under the watchful eyes and direction of the himeji with Japanese friendship garden
architects in 2001 five years after the tea house
construction phase two started the garden
creation once again the himeji landscape architects
made numerous trips to phoenix it wasn’t
a part of their day-to-day jobs back in japan but
this was a special project the cobblestones forming
the beach were placed by hand a painstaking process
that paid off beautifully in the end rojo and bridges
were ade overseas and transported to phoenix in the japanese gardens
Water is considered a symbol of purity and happiness
all of the decorative features throughout
the garden the lanterns and sculptures were gifts
from the himeji people including anshachi
an ornament found on the famous himeji castle it’s
half tiger and half fish in january of 2004 the garden
was officially dedicated bringing together the people
of phoenix and himeji to rejoice in this remarkable
achievement of transporting the spirit of japan to
the valley of the sun the highlight of the dedication
are the koi fish called the jewels of fish 50 koi which
came from japan were released into the garden ponds in 2008
Phase three construction of the seijin
restroom began bringing together
the return of the himeji architects
today japanese friendship garden
holds many cultural and educational
events that would enrich visitors understanding
traditional japanese culture among them
are the tea ceremony moon viewing
and ikebana exhibit not many apanese gardens
in america offer the authentic tea ceremony
regularly to the public it has been described as
the best art experience ever provided
the moon viewing otsukimi is a festival honoring
the harvest full moon in japan this tradition
was first practiced in the Heian era over
the years this festival has become our most
popular event in November 2016 marked the 40th
anniversary of these sister cities phoenix and Himeji
we welcomed very special guests from Himeji
the anniversary ceremony was held in our
Garden where phoenix mayor Stanton and Himeji vice mayor
utumi signed the sister city reaffirmation
in April 2017 roho n and himeji
garden kokoen signed the official
sister garden agreement in himeji
it was the perfect setting for our special
day with cherry trees in full bloom the
garden will continue to need collaborative
efforts from public and private non-profit
partnership which includes volunteers
and donations the gardens master plan has been
in place since 1987 and only phase one through
three have been completed phases 4 and 5 which
are viewing pavilion and a visitor center yet to be
completed we would like to ask your kind support
to complete our master plans
which was the dream of the late himeji mayor totani
and the dreams of many people who contributed
their time from the beginning we hope that everyone
will take away inspirations of peace tranquility and friendship
