Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden
Lethbridge Alberta

by Fida Wild

The Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden is one of the most outstanding Japanese style gardens outside of Japan. Nothing was left to chance and not even a minor detail spared to ensure true authenticity to Japanese heritage.

"Ni" stands for Nihon (Japan), "Ka" for Kanada (Canada) and Yuko for friendship in Japanese.

I had visited this jewel of a garden five years earlier on my 'migration trip' from Ontario to British Columbia. Rain and a stormy wind kept me from strolling through the Nikka Yuko Japanese garden, and I only caught a glimpse of this splendid place. Ever since, I longed to go back and when I finally did, the weather collaborated.

Call me nuts to drive 10 hours one-way for a visit. I know the couple that we overheard talking about the garden, would. While Véronique and I enjoyed a moment of contemplation, listening to the gurgle of the gently flowing stream, we overheard a woman saying to her partner: "I don't know what's all the fuss about this garden. There are NO flowers anywhere." Needless to say, our eye-rolling look met in silent protest. I suppose some people never find beauty in serenity.

The first Japanese didn't arrive in Lethbridge by choice. In the early 1940s, Canadian-Japanese were considered enemy aliens and were forcibly removed from the coast of British Columbia. Males were placed as labourers and women and children moved to "ghost town" detention camps into the interior. Later they were given "the choice" to move east of the Rockies or "repatriate" to Japan. They've lost everything. Quite a large group settled in and around Lethbridge. After the war, most of them stayed on and the Japanese community has since grown considerably.

In the early 1960s Reverend Yutetsu Kawamura, a Canadian Buddhist priest, his wife Yoneko, and Cleo Mowers, publisher of the Lethbridge Herald, thought it was time to recognize officially the sacrifice Japanese-Canadians had endured and to honour the contribution they had made to the city of Lethbridge. The idea of building a Japanese Friendship Garden was proposed to the city council and was met with enthusiasm. The Lethbridge & District Japanese Garden Society was founded and the group went to work.

Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden, Lethbridge Alberta

No costs were spared to make the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden just right. Renowned Japanese landscape designer Dr Tadashi Kubo, at that time professor at the University of Osaka and his assistant Sugimoto Masami not only were responsible for the authentic design, they personally chose the perfect setting - equally important as the design - adjacent to the Henderson Lake recreational area.

Although the four-acre city garden is smaller than the park-size Kurimoto Japanese Garden near Edmonton, one get's the impression that it is even bigger. The setting couldn't be more perfect. The 'borrowed view' leads away from the visual distraction of the cityscape to Henderson Lake and creates an illusion of depth and grandness. The garden is brilliantly designed and reveals itself view by view while wandering through the different areas.

As customary to Japanese gardens, attention to detail is crucial. Mimicking the landscape and making it perfect without looking artificial is an art the Japanese perfected. Painstaking work is involved in the selection of each stone and the careful placement of it to compose a pleasing visual effect. Flowing streams, waterfalls, ponds, hills and valleys form a perfect illusion of a naturally grown environment.

The Pavilion and symbols like pagoda, bell, lanterns and plants melt with the recreated Southern Albertan landscape to a perfect work of art. The harsh climate of Lethbridge dictated the selection of plants. Japanese maple, black pine and Japanese cherry trees were substituted with hardy amur maple, scotch pine and crab-apples. The result is so convincing that even experts are fooled.

It is first and foremost a garden for contemplation and meditation. Flowering trees and shrubs are sparingly used as not to distract the meditating mind. Maple trees and bushes like lilacs, dogwood, crab apples, bearberries and junipers provide splashes of seasonal colours.

The buildings - pavilion and the azumaya gazebo (resting place) - were built according to the 16th century sukiya-style in Japan and then transported to Canada and reassembled on location without the use of nails. The yellow cedar radiates a golden glow, the rooms are sparsely furnished, and the traditional tearoom corner is laid out with tatami floor mats.

The design of the pavilion is perfect. The canopy is big enough to keep the summer sun out. I visited on a hot day, and the temperature in the house was pleasant. Some of the shoji screens were taken out, the glass windows opened and the breeze from the pond and waterfall was all that was needed to keep the house cool in an area where otherwise air conditioners were brimming.

The walled dry rock garden (karesansui) right outside of the pavilion emphases the feeling of peace and contemplation. The stones, always used in 3s, 5s and 7s, are carefully placed and the gravel attentively raked to depict flowing water.

Although the garden was finished in 1966, the official opening ceremony was held during Canada's centennial celebration July 14, 1967 with Prince and Princess Takamatsu of Japan as honorary guests in attendance.

The Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden serves as a gathering place to celebrate Japanese and Canadian art and culture. I attended a tea ceremony, given every Sunday afternoon during the summer, and a Laido performance (Japanese sword demonstration) in the Pavilion.

I would have lingered way longer if they hadn't thrown me out.