Manyo Botanical Garden

Flower collection from the "Ten-Thousand Tanka"

Tomoko Kamishima May 21, 2014 - 1 min read

<p>Strings of long elegant purple flowers</p>

<p>Teahouse ‘Ninai-jaya’ on the approach to Kasuga Taisha Shrine</p>

<p>Here, the wisteria trellis is set at a lower position in order to enjoy the flowers at  eye-level</p>

<p>In the sunlight on a pleasant afternoon</p>

<p>Lots of tiny flowers and plants along the path</p>

<p>Floating stage for special events on the pond (left)</p>

<p>Wooden bridge crossing over the wetlands</p>

Manyo Botanical Garden, situated within the precincts of Kasuga Taisha Shrine, has 300 kinds of plants, all mentioned in Manyo-shu (Ten-Thousand Tanka: the oldest anthology of tanka poems). Especially in May, 200 wisteria swaying in the wind are lovely. The wisteria is the symbol of the Fujiwara clan, who originally enshrined their guardian god here at the foot of Kasuga Hill. There is a Japanese teahouse ‘Ninai-jaya’ on the long approach to the shrine. The entrance of the garden is just behind the teahouse. By the way, the Garden has some special events twice a year (May 5th and November 3rd), featuring ancient court music and dance (YouTube video).

Tomoko Kamishima @tomoko.kamishima

Japan is a small island nation, but we have a huge number of surprising things to discover here. Many of these delights can be found when you step off the main street onto small side paths. I really enjoy studying about and researching various aspects of traditional Japanese culture, and then sha...