‘Gardens & Galleries’ Travel Talk

Friday, 20 November, 2020 @ 10.00 Dublin/London [GMT+1]

Thank you for all those who joined our 5th zoom webinar of the year. For those who want to rewatch or for those who missed the webinar but wanted to attend, the videos of each speaker are embedded below.

This webinar gave real insights into the incredible variety and heritage of Japanese gardens and art galleries that awaits you in Japan. Our team in Japan discussed one of the most popular tours to Japan – Gardens & Galleries. Saori Imoto, a Japanese landscape designer, outlined the first half of the tour covering Kamakura, Kanazawa & Kyoto. Her knowledge of hidden gems in these places will certainly be worth the listen! Sachiyo Kusuda invited us to Matsue, a significant place in Japanese history, especially for gardens. Both speakers are local to the areas we visit on the tour. We hope you enjoyed learning something new about some very hidden parts of Japan that we love to share!

Panel & Topics :

Guest Speakers: Saori Imoto, Japanese Landscape Designer/Specialist

Originally from Kamakura, Saori-san studied Japanese gardening at a postgraduate school in Japan. When she was in the UK, she was interested in the difference between English and Japanese gardens so she went to a gardening school in the UK and got a diploma. Also, she has made a private Japanese garden for her client in London. For the last 7 years, Saori-san has work gardening, gardening design, running bonsai workshops, preserving the forest and running workshops in gardens. When she came back to Japan 3 years ago, as same as preserving the forests and workshops in gardens, she also started guiding mainly about gardens and plants.

Guest Speakers: Sachiyo Kusuda, Shimane (Matsue Tour Guide)

Sachiyo San got a certification as an interpreter guide and started her career as a guide in the Sanin area. After working at tourism in Shimane for 3 years, she gained much knowledge of the history and culture in Shimane. She especially has a curiosity about Japanese gardens and has been studying gardening joining the Japanese garden course owned by Chisa Shigemori who is an expert in the history of Japanese garden and grandchild of Mirei Shigemori who is representative of Japanese garden history and also a gardener. She also has a certification of sake sommelière so she would be able to introduce local sake to the people.

Travel Talk Moderator: Mizuki Kamakura

Mizuki outlines the day-by-day itinerary and other such details of our wonderful Gardens and Galleries’ small group tours, including upcoming dates and costs, etc.