Transcript:
Greetings, in this episode we visit the Shiojiri Niwa Garden in Mishawaka, Indiana which is in St. Joseph County in north central Indiana.
My wife and I strolled through the Shiojiri Niwa Garden in Mishawaka, Indiana during a camping trip to Potato Creek State Park. This 1 1/3-acre garden includes over 20 varieties of shrubs and trees and many more smaller flowering plants. Over 200 boulders are scattered over the garden.
This is a very pretty garden that provides a serene refuge to relax in the midst of a busy city.
The garden honors Mishawaka's sister city, Shiojiri City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan. The story of the sister city status begins in 1937 when Helen Amos, a Mishawaka elementary school teacher visiting the island of Java in Indonesia. During a train ride she began a conversation with a Japanese man from Shiojiri City in Japan. This man returned to his home and mentioned the conversation to his friend Hiro Takasuna. Mr Takasuna wrote to Amos, commencing a four-year letter exchange that ended with the beginning of World War II.
At war's end the two once again began exchanging letters. Then the Battell Elementary School, where Amos taught, sent artwork to the Nishi Primary School students in Shiojiri. This led to the establishment of a sisterhood relationship between the two cities as well as a cultural exchange program that included exchange students and business people from each city traveling to visit the other. The two cities officially became sister cities in 1972.
Japanese architect Shoji Kanaoka who worked at Disney's Epcot Center designed the Shiojiri Niwa Garden in 1987. A concrete path leads through the garden, crossing 4 bridges that span imaginary streams. One of the bridges, a red one, symbolized a bridge leading to Matsumoto Castle near Shiojiri City. Hidekazu Yokozawa designed a sculpture that depicts 2 Japanese and 2 American children that symbolizes the joining of the two sister cities. The sculpture stands at the entrance and was dedicated in 1992. The garden also has a tea house pavilion.
You can find information about this wonderful destination, as well as many, many others in my book North Central Indiana Day Trips. The book includes travel information on 11 counties in North Central Indiana. The book is part of my 9 book Road Trip Indiana Series. The series has travel and history information on all of Indiana's 92 counties. Information includes just about any destination imaginable. These include museums, farmer's markets and other agri-tourism sites, bowling alleys, drive in theaters, local and state parks and much much more. The books are available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple and many other on line book sellers in ebook, softbound and audio book formats. You can also buy them on my web site, www.mossyfeetbooks.com. On the web site I have a box set offering of all 9 books at a money saving price. Shipping is free. Residents of southeastern Indiana can purchase them at the Walnut Street Variety Shoppe on George Street in Batesville.
I hope you enjoyed this podcast and thank you for listening.
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