6 June 2007

At this year's Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show in late May in London, among a total of six hundred entries the three Japanese garden designers taking part have been awarded the Gold, Silver Flora and Bronze Flora medals respectively. The details are as follows:

Un-tei (Garden of Clouds), designed by Kazuyuki Ishihara, AOA Corporation, Tokyo, has been awarded the Gold Medal in the City Gardens Category. This is the second year running that Mr Ishihara has received a Gold Medal at this prestigious event. He describes his winning creation this year as "a little garden enclosed by walls of green", recalling "an intimate space" one visited as a child. The blend of childhood memories and present sensations has a gentle, soothing effect on the visitor.

Mr Ishihara was pleasantly surprised to receive the top award again this year and expressed his gratitude to the RHS staff who helped his participation in this year¡Çs event go smoothly as well as to all the other British people involved. He also commented that he wanted to convey through his creation a sense of the rich natural beauty founded on a limited number of plants that reflects the traditional Japanese aesthetic. In addition, Mr Ishihara was pleased by the visitors¡Ç reaction to his use of moss on the walls - something which could represent a "new wind" in the UK. He intends to participate in the Chelsea Flower Show again next year.

East Wind, designed by Hiroko Torikai of the Uchiyama Landscape Construction Co., Ltd, Chiba, was awarded the Silver Flora Medal in the Best Courtyard Garden Category. This garden features a combination of two styles - one from the natural landscape of Japan and the other conveying the beauty of English plants. It reflects a fusion of the two cultures, with each enhancing the other.

Ms Torikai expressed her delight at having been awarded the Silver Medal. She was particularly gratified her delicate techniques for Japanese garden construction had been so well received outside Japan. She heard many visitors exclaim "How peaceful!" or "How pretty!" and declared that she would always treasure their remarks. "I look forward to enjoying even more precious moments with British garden-lovers in the future", she enthused. "Therefore I will enter the competition again next year and hope to gain an even better prize!"

Garden of Transience, designed by Haruko Seki of Studio Lasso (mail@studiolasso.co.uk), London, was awarded the Bronze Flora Medal in the Best City Garden Category. The themes of her creation are tranquillity and a sense of transience. The garden is designed as a void to project light and shadow. The mirror-like water in the shallow basin reflects the movement of the sky revealing the constant flow of nature.

"During my 10 years in the UK as a designer", she commented, "in some ways I have rediscovered my sense of Japanese aesthetics and refined sensibilities." She added that participating in the Chelsea Flower Show had given her an opportunity to offer the world a taste of the distinctive elements of Japanese culture, not least the unique Japanese sensitivity to nature, and that she was thrilled to have won such a prestigious prize. Although she had boldly decided not to include the traditional elements of Japanese gardens in her creation, she had been delighted that visitors felt her garden exuded a beauty that was quintessentially Japanese. She declared that the experience had given her a powerful sense of the direction her work should take in the future.