Koishikawa Korakuen is a formal garden in Tokyo. The Mito family of the Tokugawa clan built it in the early 1600s. Today, high-rise buildings surround it close by. And to one side is the white dome of the Tokyo Indoor Baseball Stadium rising like the top of a flying saucer over the garden.
The visitors sit and enjoy the garden. Are they ignoring the stadium, or are they oblivious to it? I am struck not just by the shape but also the light colour of the stadium that grates with the serenity of the green space.
This is something we have seen a lot in Japan. The new is right next to old, and you must ignore the modern world and see only beauty – in this case the garden.
It is the same with the trees in the garden. The design emulates windswept trees on Japan’s coast. But the branches cannot support themselves, So posts support the branches.
Do we not see the posts? Are we supposed to blot them from our vision and see only the harmony of the branches in Koishikawa Korakuen?
Also see this post on the Meiji Jingu shrine in Tokyo
This is one of several posts on our travels in Japan in Spring 2024.