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October for a private audience.” The garden visitors see today is virtually the same as the one designed by

Japanese Garden Architect Ken Nakajima. As Justin explains, “the garden is a set design which represents the entire landscape of Japan. The hill represents Mount Fuji, the waterfalls - inland streams and rivers, the ponds - lakes and the ocean, the buildings - towns or cities, and the shrubs - the rolling hills. A typical Japanese garden has various elements such as rocks, water, islands, ponds, bridges, lanterns, plants, a teahouse and borrowed scenery. Borrowed scenery (shakkei in Japanese) is the principle of incorporating background landscape into the composition of a garden. The garden doesn’t finish at the fence; it continues on into the existing landscape.”For people wishing to create their own Japanese garden, the use of

stones is a good starting point. “Stones can be incorporated in a number of different ways,” agrees Justin. “One common way is to use them as stepping stones for the garden path. Alternatively they can be used to represent a mountain or island, or placed by waterfalls or streams. Rocks are arranged in careful compositions of two, three, five or seven, with three being the most common. In an arrangement of three, the tallest rock usually represents heaven, the shortest rock is the earth, and the medium-sized rock is humanity - the bridge between heaven and earth.”Like all gardeners, Don and Justin must consider climate when choosing

plants, and Cowra’s hot Summers and cold Winters are a challenge. But through careful research and planning, they have incorporated over 150 different types of plants into the garden. “Some of the traditional Japanese plants that are used include Flowering Cherries, Japanese Maple, Black Pine, Mugo Pine, Japanese Cedar, Wisteria and Japanese Elm,” says Justin. There are also many natives, and a grove of eucalyptus trees stands proudly as a memorial to the Australian soldiers who died during the war-time breakout. And while the garden structure remains constant, there are plans to

expand the layout to include a fully operational tea house. This would allow visitors to experience a traditional Japanese tea ceremony in an authentic setting. And as Don points out, the Garden has evolved into something very important; “The Cowra Japanese Garden and Cultural Centre has become known as The Centre of Japanese Culture in Australia and also as A Tangible Monument to Peace and Reconciliation.” As he nears retirement, Don Kibbler can be justly proud of a job well done. l