Adachi Museum’s Japanese gardens ranked number one for the 17th consecutive year

Text by Kurumi Fukutsu

The gardens of Adachi Museum of art in Shimane prefecture have been ranked number one in the “2019 Japanese Garden Ranking,” and this marks its 17th consecutive year in the number one spot. The ranking includes more than 900 places throughout Japan, including historical sites, and was compiled by Sukiya Living Magazine: The Journal of Japanese Gardening, a U.S. magazine that focuses on Japanese gardens.

The Living Framed Painting

The Japanese garden’s landscape was started in 1968 by the founder of the museum, Zenko Adachi (1899-1990). After the museum opened in 1970, Zenko continued to expand the garden by directing gardeners, taking about 15 years to complete its basis. The garden has changed dramatically since the beginning of the landscaping, and now covers a total area of ​​about 165,000 square meters including the surrounding mountainous scenery incorporated as a shakkei backdrop for the landscape.

The garden is composed of a dry landscape garden, a moss garden, a pond garden, a white gravel and pine garden, and about 800 red pine trees and about 100 black pine trees.

The White Gravel and Pine Garden

In 2019, the annual number of visitors exceeded 640,000. Among them, the number of foreign visitors is 40,931; the museum and gardens are attracting attention from all over the world.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the museum’s opening, with special exhibitions such as the “Former of Unique Aesthetics, Kitaoji Rosanjin” and the “The Whole of Yokoyama Taikan”. Along with the exhibition, Japanese gardens are definitely worth the visit.

Adachi Museum of Art
320 Furukawa-cho, Yasugi, Shimane, 692-0064, Japan
Tel. +81(0)854-28-7111
http://www.adachi-museum.or.jp/en/