Kobayashi-En
Photo: Mathis Brancquart / CC BY-SA 4.0, modified.
Overview
The Japanese Garden of Aix-les-Bains is a small public meditation garden in the Parc du Casino, along Avenue Charles de Gaulle. The official Aix-les-Bains Riviera des Alpes page describes it as a Japanese garden designed for meditation and intended to be viewed from the outside. It was created in January 1998 by Japanese gardeners Seiji Imanaka and Sadao Yasumoro, invited to Aix-les-Bains by Madame Kobayashi during the programme for the Year of Japan in France.
History
The garden was created in 1998 as part of the cultural events for the Year of Japan in France. It was installed in the Parc du Casino, between the railway station and the Casino Grand-Cercle, where the surrounding trees and the distant silhouette of Mont Revard could become part of the garden’s visual setting. The two Japanese gardeners, Seiji Imanaka and Sadao Yasumoro, worked with the parks and gardens department of the City of Aix-les-Bains.
The garden is also known as Kobayashi-En. Local accounts state that the name was officially given during the Matsuri festival in 2016, in recognition of the role of the Kobayashi family in the garden’s creation and Franco-Japanese cultural exchange. The garden remains one of Aix-les-Bains’ small contemporary heritage gardens within its wider spa-town landscape.
Design features
The garden is a compact symbolic composition based around the kanji for “heart”. White gravel represents water and the nearby Lac du Bourget; rocks suggest islands and Japan; a wooden Japanese-style bridge symbolises the link between France and Japan; and a lantern represents light. It is deliberately open to outside views and is meant for contemplation rather than physical strolling through the garden.
Garden elements
Enclosures
Stones
Other elements
Current status
Extant public Japanese meditation garden in the Parc du Casino. It is designed to be contemplated from the outside and remains freely visible within the public park setting.