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The Yomiuri Shimbun The expanded pond at the bonsai garden of the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum, Saitama
The Yomiuri Shimbun
14:30 JST, April 20, 2025
SAITAMA — The Omiya Bonsai Art Museum, Saitama in Kita Ward, Saitama, reopened in late March after the completion of its garden renovation that coincides with the 100th anniversary of the Omiya Bonsai Village in the same ward.
The museum spent about ¥25 million to redevelop the pond in the garden and transformed itself into an art museum that highlights the charm of bonsai. It opened in 2010 as the world’s first public bonsai museum and has enlightened visitors to bonsai culture, which not only includes bonsai, but also suiseki stones and ukiyo-e woodprint prints featuring bonsai.
The museum is gaining attention overseas as well. Fiscal 2023 saw roughly 56,000 visitors, with 8,600 of them inbound tourists.
In the latest renovation, the museum expanded the pond in the center of its garden that displays bonsai trees from 70 square meters to 110 square meters. A water system was installed that creates a flowing stream by creating level variations using rocks and other materials.
The Yomiuri Shimbun Visitors can appreciate the reflections of bonsai on the pond.
The water purposefully flows into the pond, of which half is designed as a mirror pond, reflecting the bonsai. Seiryu, a 350-year-old goyo-matsu Japanese white pine, is placed in the center of the pond so its reflection creates the image of a giant dragon ascending into the sky on the surface of the water.
“We designed the arrangement to make the best of the bonsai, which is the main attraction. We hope visitors will enjoy the scenery as well,” said the museum’s director.
The Omiya Bonsai Village was established in 1925 after bonsai growers moved from Tokyo following the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake.
The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. It is open until 4 p.m. from November to February. The museum is closed on Thursdays, except when the day falls on a national holiday.
