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Japanese Garden, Singapore (11 July 2011)
© Timothy Tye using this photo
Japanese Garden (map) is a landscaped public garden in Jurong, Singapore. Also called Seiwaen, it is located adjacent to the Chinese Garden, and can be entered from there through a link bridge. Covering an area of 13 hectares, it is just half a hectare smaller than the Chinese Garden.
Torii Arch of the Japanese Garden of Singapore (11 July 2011)
© Timothy Tye using this photo
As with the Chinese Garden, the Japanese Garden was laid out in the mid 1970s. It is sited on an island in Jurong Lake. Within the Japanese Garden itself are two sets of ponds with well-tended surroundings. The grass is immaculately tidy with the rocks and boulders strewn in seemingly careless but in fact orderly fashion. Many visitors fail to appreciate the Japanese Garden, prefering the "louder" Chinese Garden, with its pagodas and statues. You find neither of these at the Japanese Garden. It is more a place to seek solitude, for quiet contemplation. There are no straight paths here, you are expected to meander through the garden, not rush through it.
Vermillion arch bridge at the Japanese Garden of Singapore (11 July 2011)
© Timothy Tye using this photo
One of the highlights of the Japanese Garden is the Stone Lantern Valley. Here, you find different types of Japanese stone lantern, many with descriptions of their names and backgrounds.
Bright vermillion arch bridges link different parts of the Japanese Garden. They curve over the lake, inviting you to climb them slowly, to stop at various points and most of all, to unwind and - in a concept that is quite unSingaporean - to let your inner self go.
Landscaped pond, Japanese Garden (11 July 2011)
© Timothy Tye using this photo
The Japanese Garden also attempts to introduce the concept of shakkei, or "borrowed scenery". This is done by integrating the surrounding landscape into the design of the garden. If a distant high-rise buiding cannot be masked from view, the garden is designed so that it appears pleasing to the eye within unnecessarily intruding into the overall appearance.
One of the successes of creating the Japanese Garden in Singapore lies in the choice of plants. As this garden is located in the tropics, the plants chosens have to be those that are suitable to the climate. As such, you don't find any Japanese irises, rhododendrons, Japanese maple and cherry blossoms, in this Japanese Garden, their place taken by hardy tropical plants and shrubs including the pandan and bamboo. Despite this compromise, the garden is successful in creating the feel one would expect from a Japanese garden.
Rocks and stone lanterns, Japanese Garden (11 July 2011)
© Timothy Tye using this photo
The Japanese Garden of Jurong is the biggest Japanese Garden in the area. The only other major Japanese Garden apart from this one is the Japanese Village at Berjaya Hills in Pahang, Malaysia.
Visiting the Japanese Garden
You can reach the Japanese Garden from the Japanese Garden Road, which is located to the west of the garden, or by taking the link bridge from Chinese Garden. If you are coming by MRT, you will reach the Chinese Garden, and will be entering it via the aforementioned bridge.Take the East West Line to the Chinese Garden MRT Station (EW25). Enter the Chinese Garden and continue to the Japanese Garden (look at the map and signage when there).
Stone lanterns, Japanese Garden (11 July 2011)
© Timothy Tye using this photo
Map of the Japanese Garden, Singapore (11 July 2011)
© Timothy Tye using this photo
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