Japanese Garden at Adachi Museum of Art Ranked Top for Twentieth Consecutive Year
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Every year, Sukiya Living, a US-based magazine, calls on experts from around the world to choose the 50 best Japanese gardens from among roughly 1,000 candidates, including gardens at Japanese traditional inns and private residences. This project aims to evaluate Japanese gardens simply by their beauty and quality, without regard to scale or level of fame.
The top Japanese garden in 2022 was Adachi Museum of Art, a ranking it has now retained for 20 years in a row. This garden, which surrounds the museum and covers an area of around 165,000 square meters, features a diverse array of garden styles, including a karesansui (dry landscape) garden, a moss garden, and a white gravel and pine garden.
Speaking about being ranked top for the twentieth year, the museum Director Adachi Takanori said that “the founder Adachi Zenkō devoted the latter half of his life to gardening, with the belief that ‘a garden is like a picture scroll.’ In keeping with his wishes, the gardeners and all the museum staff work together all year round without a single day off to maintain the gardens. I think the results reflect an appreciation of these steady efforts.”
The Pond Garden in winter at Adachi Museum of Art. (© Adachi Museum of Art. Reproduction/copying of the image prohibited.)
The Katsura Rikyū garden of the Imperial Household Agency in Kyoto, was the runner-up, also for the twentieth year. Other high-ranking gardens were Yamamoto-tei, a former private residence in Tokyo’s Katsushika, and Minami-kan, a ryokan in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture.
Top 10 Japanese Gardens in 2022
| Name | Location | Type | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adachi Museum of Art | Yasugi, Shimane Prefecture | Museum |
| 2 | Katsura Rikyū | Kyoto | Imperial villa |
| 3 | Yamamoto-tei | Katsushika, Tokyo | Former residence |
| 4 | Minami-kan | Matsue, Shimane Prefecture | Ryokan |
| 5 | Yōkō-kan | Fukui, Fukui Prefecture | Former villa |
| 6 | Sekitei | Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture | Ryokan |
| 7 | Gyokudō Art Museum | Ōme, Tokyo | Museum |
| 8 | Kakurezato Kuruma-ya | Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture | Restaurant |
| 9 | Matsudaya Hotel | Yamaguchi, Yamaguchi Prefecture | Ryokan |
| 10 | Ninomaru Gardens, Nijō Castle | Kyoto | Historical site |
Selected by the US journal: Sukiya Living Magazine (The Journal of Japanese Gardening).
Katsura Rikyū garden in Kyoto. (© Pixta)
Yamamoto-tei in Katsushika, Tokyo. (© Pixta)
Yōkō-kan in Fukui, Fukui Prefecture. (© Fukui Prefecture Tourism Association)
Gyokudō Art Museum in Ōme, Tokyo. (© Pixta)
Ninomaru Gardens at Nijō Castle in Kyoto. (© Pixta)
(Translated from Japanese. Banner photo: Karesansui (dry landscape) garden at Adachi Museum of Art. © Adachi Museum of Art. Reproduction/copying of the image prohibited.)