Adelaide Himeji (Japanese) Gardens

What a beautiful day we are having in Adelaide today, Spring is certainly here.  And to celebrate the long weekend, we decided to take a trip to the beautiful Himeji Gardens, located on South Terrace in the city.

This garden is truly amazing.  Despite being located near a busy road as well as by sports playing fields, the tranquility found within this walled oasis certainly helps to calm the spirit and refocus the mind.  While we were there, a couple were getting their wedding photographs taken the beautiful surroundings, as well as a small group of cosplay devotees enjoying the sunshine - and what a perfect setting to be in their anime or manga costumes.

The Himeji Gardens blends two classic Japanese styles, the lake and mountain garden and the dry garden, and celebrates Adelaide's sister-city relationship with the ancient Japanese city of Himeji.

The Adelaide City Council resolved in 1982 to make a symbolic garden which might help the people of Adelaide to understand the culture of the Japanese.

The gardens blend toether two classic styles.  The first is the 'kare senzui' (dry garden) where rocks and sand evoke the presence of water, even the sea itself - as in the above left picture.  The second style is the 'senzui' (lake and mountain garden) where the imagination endows the small pond with vastness and grandeur - as in the picture to the right.

If you have not visited the Himeji Gardens recently, then now is certainly the time to do so, if only to recharge the batteries before Summer heralds in the festive season.