Budapest International Fair
Overview
The Japanese Garden at the 1942 Budapest International Fair was a temporary Japanese-style exhibition garden connected with the Japanese pavilion at the wartime fair. A contemporary article in Magyar Lélek describes the 1942 fair as the first year when the Budapest International Fair was renamed War Fair, and notes that nine friendly or neutral countries appeared in eight separate pavilions, with Manchukuo placed in Japan’s pavilion.
History
The fair was held in 1942, after the usual spring fair was moved to the Saint Stephen’s Day period and renamed War Fair. The article describes the visitor entering the fair and seeing the foreign pavilions first. On the right side, an “original Japanese garden” led visitors toward the Japanese pavilion. The text says the next pavilion’s white cone roof could be imagined as Mount Fuji, and explicitly notes that the garden was the work of Hungarian garden artists.
Design features
The available contemporary description identifies the garden as a Japanese-style display using flowers, rocks and water. It appears to have been a scenic, symbolic entrance or approach garden for the Japanese pavilion rather than a full-scale garden. The source does not name individual features such as bridges, lanterns, pond layout or planting species.
Current status
Former temporary exhibition garden. The Japanese garden was created for the 1942 Budapesti Nemzetközi Vásár, renamed “War Fair” that year and held in connection with the Saint Stephen’s Day period. It was not a permanent public garden, but a temporary garden installation at the entrance area of the foreign national pavilions. A contemporary report describes it as an “eredeti japán kert” placed near the Japanese pavilion, with flowers, rocks and water. The same report states that it was created by Hungarian garden artists. No evidence found so far confirms survival after the fair.