Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden is a lasting legacy for the city
GARDEN TO OPEN FOR THE SEASON ON SATURDAY
As the seasons change in Lethbridge, so does the face of the Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden.
Gardens, if well designed, are meant to be enjoyed over time. Unlike more static man-made monuments, the Japanese believe gardens house a powerful kami (spirit) which grows and responds to the hands of those who care for and visit it through the generations. It’s certainly a notion Nikka Yuko marketing and events co-ordinator James Phelan understands well.
“The first time I visited Nikka Yuko I was working as an arbourist in the city, and I was just in awe of the place,” he remembers, as he leads a private tour on a rainy Tuesday morning. “The attention to detail the gardeners put into the horticultural side, the structure, the experience going to the garden made a very large impression on me. It’s been an incredibly rewarding journey working for the garden on a lot of different levels. It’s a personal journey being part of this place, and also being part of the whole legacy of probably one of the most important monuments in the city.”
All who work within for the garden’s health, protection and beauty are aware of its aspirational and symbolic meaning, and are mindful of being good custodians of that rich legacy, says Phelan.
“Going back to the foresight of the founders, the foresight of people like Herald publisher Cleo Mowers, Rev. Kawamura from the Buddhist Temple, Kurt Steiner of the City’s tourism agency and Mayor Frank Sherring, you think about the early 1960s, and what that meant to reach across to a country you had just gone through a war with. To a community where you had taken away some of their fundamental civil rights — and to say we are going to establish a garden here and make a statement — it’s a powerful thing.
“That combination of the title of Nikka Yuko. The Ni comes from Nihong, which means Japan, and Ka, which stands for Canada, and Yuko, friendship. It’s a friendship garden, and the world needs more of that; especially when you see what is happening in the news today.”
As with the rich texture of Nikka Yuko’s symbolism, you can’t understand the complexity of the garden’s natural elements in just one visit, says Phelan. You are meant to revisit over the course of the year and see how the seasonal cycle unfolds within its walls.
“We invite people to come and soak in the experience and atmosphere of the garden,” says Phelan. “You have to come to the garden numerous times to really appreciate the deeper meaning of it, and you see that in every season here.”
The Nikka Yuko Japanese Garden reopens to the public on Saturday.