Review: Adelaide Himeji Garden

During a recent trip to Adelaide, South Australia, I took a break from shopping to visit the Adelaide Himeji Garden. Unfortunately it was a somewhat rushed visit, I didn't get to spend as much time there as I would have liked, but I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and I look forward to exploring the garden again during the different seasons.

The Adelaide Himeji Garden is a traditional Japanese garden situated on the edge of the city of Adelaide, South Australia. In April 1982, the city of Adelaide and the ancient city of Himeji became sister cities. The Adelaide Himeji Garden was a gift from the city of Himeji to symbolise the bond of friendship between the two cities.

The garden itself may be small, but it is still a beautiful example of Japanese garden design. You enter the garden through a gatehouse, modeled on a temple. Nearby is a water bowl so visitors may purify themselves by washing their hands and face before entering the garden. The garden is split into two classic styles. Firstly, the larger section of the garden, the senzui (lake and mountain garden) which reflects images of the Japanese countryside. Hills in the garden design represent the mountains of Japan and the body of water represents the lakes and ocean. A bubbling waterfall provides the soothing sounds of running water. A shishi-odoshi (deer scarer), a bamboo device provides a rhythmic clack against a rock every few moments. The back corner of the garden shows us a beautiful example of a kare senzui (dry garden), where raked sand represents areas of water and rocks take the place of islands. By the kare senzui is a teahouse, where you can sit and enjoy the peace and quiet and look across the carefully raked sand of the kare senzui. The teahouse is designed similarly to the porch of a Zen temple. The garden is completely fenced off and full of beautiful plants, so it is easy to relax and let yourself imagine that you have escaped on journey to Japan.

I took my Banpresto C.C. SQ prize figure with me to visit the garden for photographic reasons. Her outfit is the most suitable out of all the figures in my collection so it seemed fitting to photograph her there. I plan to visit the garden again in January and I will take the rerelease of Alter's Momohime figure (due for rerelease this month) with me then.

Please enjoy my photographs of C.C and my photographs of the garden itself. If you're ever in Adelaide, I highly recommend the Adelaide Himeji Garden as a must see spot to visit.