The Nitobe Memorial Garden is a 2½ acre (one hectare) traditional Japanese garden

Japanese garden

, that is, gardens in traditional Japanese style, can be found at private homes, in neighborhood or city parks, and at historical landmarks such as Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and old castles....

 located at the University of British Columbia

University of British Columbia

The University of British Columbia is a public research university. UBC’s two main campuses are situated in Vancouver and in Kelowna in the Okanagan Valley...

, just outside the city limits of Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It is part of the UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research

UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research

UBC Botanical Garden, at the University of British Columbia, was established in 1916 under the directorship of John Davidson, British Columbia's first provincial botanist. It is the oldest botanical garden at a university in Canada....

.

One of the most authentic Japanese gardens in North America http://www.nitobe.org/, it honours Japanese author, educator, diplomat, and politician Nitobe Inazō (1862–1933), who died in Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

 (now the sister city of Nitobe's home town Morioka), and whose goal was "to become a bridge across the Pacific."

The garden has been the subject of more than fifteen years' study by a UBC professor, who believes that its construction hides a number of impressive features, including references to Japanese philosophy and mythology, shadow bridges visible only at certain times of year, and positioning of a lantern that is filled with light at the exact date and time of Nitobe's death each year. The garden is behind the university's Asian Centre, which is built with steel girders from Japan's exhibit at Osaka Expo

Expo '70

was a World's Fair held in Suita, Osaka, Japan between March 15 and September 13, 1970. The theme of the Expo was "Progress and Harmony for Mankind." In Japanese Expo '70 is often referred to as Ōsaka Banpaku...

.

Features

The Garden features a fully functional Japanese tea house called Ichibō-an, surrounded by an outer roji tea garden

Roji

, lit. 'dewy ground', is the Japanese term used for the garden through which one passes to the chashitsu for the tea ceremony. The roji generally cultivates an air of simplicity.-Development:...

 with a waiting bench and an inner garden.

The Garden also features several lanterns of different varieties, including a snow viewing lantern, and the Nitobe Lantern, featuring carvings of lotus blossoms and a dog (Nitobe's birth sign), and the inscription "I.M., Inazo Nitobe, 1861–1933, Apostle of Goodwill Among Nations, Erected by his friends.”http://www.nitobe.org/lanterns.php

Another feature of the garden is its pond, which supports a small ecosystem of fish as well as some water skimming insects.

External links

• Nitobe Memorial Garden Homepage