The Japanese Garden of the Japan Cultural Institute in Rome

This enchanting oriental garden is located inside the Japan Cultural Institute in a quiet corner of the Parioli district, a stone's throw from the National Gallery of Modern Art, the ETRU - National Etruscan Museum of Villa Giulia, and the seats of prestigious foreign academies. 

It is the first Italian garden designed by a Japanese landscape architect, the famous Nakajima Ken ─ also the creator of the Japanese garden in the Botanical Garden ─ and is a small oasis of peace that blends harmoniously with the rigorous, modern lines of the building designed by Yoshida Isoya in the shinden-zukuri style of the Heian period. 

Hidden from outside view, in line with traditional Japanese discretion, the green space was born as a refined kaiyūshikiteien in the sen'en variant: a strolling garden ─ with a pond, a waterfall, small islands, rocks, a little bridge, and stone lamps (tōrō) ─ replicating in miniature those of the aristocratic residences of the Asian country.

In an atmosphere suspended in time, water, gravel and vegetation, unlike the Zen garden, are the essential components of a landscape to discover, where each element has its own precise function and gives life to a contemplative whole of incredible poetry and beauty. 

Following the path traced in its approximately 1,500 square metres, you can discover the combination of plants that, according to the architect's intentions, testify to the "twinning" between Italy and Japan: romantic cherry trees, Japanese maple and camellias, and pittosporum dialogue with Mediterranean plants such as olive trees, maritime pine and iris, and alpine mountain pine.

The sakura, the ornamental cherry tree, which in the collective imagination recalls idyllic Japanese scenery, is one of the undisputed protagonists of this lovely green corner in the Yaezakura and Somei Yoshino varieties. The eight specimens present respectively generate delicate pink and white flowers during spring blooming: the hanami ─ literally "watching the flowers" ─ is a marvellous and touching natural show linked to the ancient Japanese tradition of the transience of life.

The place that witnesses the Japanese essence in Rome par excellence, this delightful garden evokes aesthetic and emblematic perspectives and corners that surprise and inspire, to be appreciated in every season: the double passage over the pond through large stones ─ one irregular, natural-looking, and the other straight and artificial; the 'magic' Yukimi lamp, whose large disc-shaped hat, snow-covered and illuminated, is a symbol of the beauty that nature offers; the tea ceremony bower  ─ covered by the splendour of fuji wisteria ─ facing the small waterfall, to enjoy a view that brings you closer to inner peace and extraordinary Japanese culture.