Tuesday - Saturday, 9am -6pm; Sunday 11am - 6pm; closed Thanksgiving and Christmas day
Admission:
Added to JGarden:
6/26/2001
Last Updated:
6/26/2001
JGarden Description:
Located in the Omniplex Science Center. The garden was constructed by Oklahoma's Sister State, Kyoto-hu.
A gift to Oklahoma from the perfectual government of Kyoto, Japan in celebration of their "sister-state" affiliation, the meditation garden was completed in September 1985. The garden was built by master gardeners from Kyoto Perfectual Landscape Gardening Cooperative Association, who voluntarily paid their own way to Oklahoma City to build the 1,110-square-foot garden in just three weeks. Over 30 tons of building material were brought over from Japan, including: rock, stone, tile and a 300 year-old Kasuga-style lantern. The garden was designed to show friendship and goodwill between the Kyoto Perfecture and Oklahoma City.
The foundations of the garden are the stone structure with other elements build up around these. The garden contains one grass island complete with a redbud tree, symbolizing Oklahoma, which is connected to another grass island symbolizing Kyoto by a wooden bridge which symbolizes friendship. The islands are separated by a trail of gravel which represents the ocean that separates the two. The garden also includes a waterfall (taki) and tsukubai water basin.
In the water
Under the pines on shore
Stand the friendly cranes;
A thousand and eight thousand years
Will they live on.
Ike mizu no
Migiwa no matsu no
Tomozuru wa
Chiyo ni yachiyo o
Soete sumuramu.
Fujiwara Shigemitsu Kitayama-dono gyokoki trans. by M.V. Otake 1408
http://www.omniplex.org/