European economies and garden diplomacy...[ 1301 ]

Garden Diplomacy

The dry garden at Norwich Cathedral, which was designed by Graham Hardman, National Chairman of the Japanese Garden Society in the United Kingdom. (c Japanese Garden Society)

(Mainichi Japan) May 27, 2010

 With the confusion over the outcome of the British election and trouble affecting many European economies, diplomacy is certainly at a premium these days. While perhaps not on the national agenda, a small step in cultural diplomacy was achieved earlier this month.

On May 4, Queen Elizabeth traveled with Prince Philip to Norwich, 186 kilometers northeast of London, to open a new addition to the 900-year-old Cathedral there. The Cathedral and the people of Norwich can boast of a small, rather special Japanese karesansui dry garden arrangement. The Queen viewed the garden and met its designer. It is now certainly the only cathedral in Britain with a Japanese garden within its consecrated ground.

The Japanese dry rock garden offers all visitors a moment for contemplation and a space for physical, temporal and spiritual transitions as they traverse between the two historic sites.

The original request for the Japanese garden came from the Reverend Canon Jeremy Haselock, who has visited Japan many times. He drew on the strong parallels between the monastic experiences in the Benedictine order and Buddhism. The garden in a small but palpable way is an act of "garden diplomacy."

Japanese gardens have been a quiet part of cultural diplomacy for more than a century.

They were often important components of the international exhibitions that became popular in the late 19th century. There were notable Japanese gardens at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia and the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle.

Not to be outdone, the Japan-British Exhibition of 1910 in White City in the Shepherd's Bush district of London boasted two Japanese gardens, covering approximately 11 acres. The principal Japanese garden designer was the celebrated Izawa Hannosuke.

Perhaps the epitome of Japanese garden diplomacy is a magnificent garden created by Isamu Noguchi in the UNESCO building headquarters in Paris. UNESCO's Garden of Peace was a gift by the Japanese government in 1958. The garden is filled with 80 tons of stone selected by Noguchi and brought from Japan.

Directly behind the Peace Fountain is the Nagasaki Angel, suspended from the wall. This statue was originally part of the facade of Urakami Cathedral in Nagasaki. It survived the destruction of the cathedral by the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki on Aug. 9, 1945, and was donated to UNESCO by the city of Nagasaki in 1978.

With all the talk of the importance of "soft power" (using attraction as power) in today's increasingly fractured political climate, isn't it time to re-examine garden diplomacy as a different and subtle alternative that encourages a much-needed sense of reflection and even pleasure in our daily lives?

(Profile)

Dr. Nicole Rousmaniere

Dr. Nicole Rousmaniere is founding director of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures. An American, she recently returned to London from Japan where she was Visiting Professor in the Department of Cultural Studies at the University of Tokyo.