The City of Sakura Rose Garden

(Kusabue-no-Oka Rose Garden)

The City of Sakura Rose Garden (Kusabue-no-Oka Rose Garden) is located in Sakura, a city in a quiet rural area, 15km west of Narita International Airport and 40km east of the central area of Tokyo. Though it is a small city, Sakura has an interesting history stretching back over a thousand years. During the Edo period, Japan closed its door to the outside world for over 250 years until it gave up the policy of diplomatic isolation in the middle of the 19th century. It was Masayoshi Hotta, the then feudal lord of Sakura and a chief minister of the Tokugawa government, who played a pivotal role in promoting Japan’s open door policy at that time. After the Meiji Restoration, he aggressively worked to introduce culture and advanced technology to Japan from other countries. In those days, Sakura led the nation in various fields: art, medicine, language study, finance, and horticulture. Hotta opened a trial farm in Sakura with the aim of promoting the study of modern horticulture. His son Masatomo served as the first president of the Japan Imperial Rose Society. It was considered that Sakura, with its tradition of horticulture and of roses, should be the place to preserve heritage roses, and the City of Sakura Rose Garden (Kusabue-no-Oka Rose Garden) was therefore opened. The Garden has been trying to collect historically important roses, on the basis of the late Mr. Seizo Suzuki’s rose collection, and with the help of many rose lovers in and out of the country. At present, the Garden has 850 varieties --- 120 species, 600 old garden roses, and 130 modern roses. In total, 1900 roses are taken care of by many volunteers in the 2.5 acre lot of this garden.

History of Sakura City

Sakura is a city located 15km from the Tokyo International Airport of Narita (Chiba Prefecture), and 40km from metropolitan Tokyo (formerly named "Edo"). The climate is relatively temperate, with an average annual temperature of approximately 15°C.

Sakura has a notable history. Especially during the Edo period, spanning about 260 years (1603-1867), Sakura prospered as a castle town, which dignitaries of the Tokugawa (Edo) Shogunate were appointed as feudal lords to govern. In the mid-19th century, when Japan emerged from its period of isolation and the new Meiji government was established, central government infantry regiment was stationed at the former site of Sakura Castle. During World War II, many young men were sent from the Sakura regiment to overseas battlefields, never to return - a sorrowful page in our city's history. After the end of the war in August, 1945, most of the military facilities were demolished. Sakura became a modern city, with cultural facilities like museums of art and Japanese history arranged amidst its abundant greenery and natural beauty.

During the period of isolation in the Edo period, Japan had diplomatic relations only with Korea, and conducted overseas trade only with the Netherlands and China. The reason for these restrictive measures was that the shogunate was wary of Christian influence in Japan. Little contact with foreign countries resulted in peace generally prevailing throughout the Edo period. In the mid-19th century, however, vessels from foreign countries such as the U.S. and Russia frequently entered Japanese waters to demand the opening of Japan’s ports.

The feudal lord of Sakura at that time, Masayoshi Hotta, was simultaneously the prime minister and foreign minister of the shogunate government. He was convinced that, in his words, to compete with Western countries, Japan needs to enhance its strength through foreign trade. He decided to open the country, and tried to first negotiate a commercial treaty with the United States.

However, he was in the minority in Japan, with conservatives who insisted on maintaining isolationism being in the majority. Nevertheless, in 1858, the shogunate government forced through the signing of "The Commercial Treaty between Japan and the US", followed by the signing of treaties with the Netherlands, Russia, Great Britain, and France successively. It was an epoch-making event for our country. Hotta’s dream of "opening the country to the outside world" was finally realized. On the other hand, among the reforms Hotta promoted during his domain-administration duties, his work to develop outstanding human resources via his special focus on educational reform is now viewed as a great contribution - not only to Sakura, but also to the nation’s modernization. The talented students who emerged with this education played prominent and leading roles in the process of modernizing Japan, in a wide range of fields - including politics, economics, military affairs, education, medicine, art, and philosophy.

Concerning the field of rose-growing, one notable person was Sen Tsuda. He sought a method of agriculture based upon the teachings of Christianity, and invested his own money in the establishment of an agricultural school, which was credited with nurturing future leaders of Japan's modern agriculture.
Clara Mary Leete, the wife of James Curtis Hepburn, a contemporary American medical missionary in Japan, wrote in her diary: “May 24, 1876 - Sen Tsuda invited us to pick strawberries, and I found blooming in his garden the most beautiful roses I've ever seen”. In Tokyo, there is a college named Tsuda College (Tsuda Juku Daigaku), one of the top-level women’s colleges in Japan. It was founded in 1900 by Umeko Tsuda as a pioneering all-female advanced education institution stressing academics - a contrast to the then-prevalent focus on teaching women domestic arts. This Umeko Tsuda was the daughter of Sen Tsuda. Another Sakura resident, Count Masatomo Hotta, son of Masayoshi, became the first president of “The Imperial Rose Society of Japan”. Apparently, fate meant for Sakura City (whose name is pronounced the same as "cherry blossom" in Japanese) to be linked with roses...

History of the garden

Seizo Suzuki (1913-2000), a world famous rose breeder, raised about 160 new rose varieties and left a collection of about 2000 species and heritage roses. In 1995, Mr. Suzuki donated to us part of his collection: 90 species roses and 200 varieties of old garden roses. In the following year, featuring the donated roses, we opened a small garden named Rose Garden Alba in Sakura City, and established the Rose Culture Institute, a non-profit organization. Our aims were to collect and preserve wild roses and old garden roses, to promote research, and develop techniques of rose cultivation, to breed new varieties, and to collect and publish rose-related literature.

The garden attracted a large number of visitors every blooming season. Many people were impressed by the charm of old garden roses with their delicate sweetness and mellow fragrance which have been lost in many modern roses. The small rose garden became famous and contributed greatly to promoting knowledge of heritage roses among rose lovers in Japan. It was fortunate that we obtained the support of many rose-loving volunteers in running the garden. They made all the facilities in the garden by their own hands, and worked very hard to take care of the roses in the garden throughout the year.

In 2003, we decided to join hands with Sakura City and move the garden to a larger site the city owned. All the roses we owned were donated to the city, and in 2005 we started to plant a new rose garden once more with the help of volunteers. The new garden, "The City of Sakura Rose Garden (Kusabue-no-Oka Rose Garden)", was opened in 2006.

The layout of the garden

This garden is designed to help visitors learn the history of roses as well as the characteristics of each variety. It is divided into 14 smaller gardens as follows:

Seizo Suzuki Garden
Species of the World Garden
History of Roses Garden
Chinese Rose Garden
Japanese Rose Garden
Species of Asia Garden
Redoute Garden
Yellow Rose Garden
La Bonne Maison Garden
Fragrant Rose Garden
Single Rose Garden
White and Pink Rose Garden
Shade Garden

Visitors can enjoy viewing each garden, notice an oriental taste in their designing, and learn some unique Japanese techniques in rose growing.

Where do the roses come from?

We are very grateful to those rose authorities around the world who have kindly donated many varieties of rare roses to our garden.

The late Mr. Seizo Suzuki, Japan : He donated part of his collection: 90 varieties of species roses and 200 varieties of old garden roses, enabling us to open Rose Garden Alba, the predecessor of Kusabue-no-Oka Rose Garden.
Mrs. Odile Masquelier, Lyon, France : She is known as the owner of the beautiful garden featuring roses, La Bonne Maison. From her collection as many as 200 varieties of rare roses were donated to the garden.
Mr. and Mrs. Viru Viraraghavan, Kodaikanal, India : They raise heat-resistant roses, and use species roses such as R. gigantea and R. clinophylla in their breeding programme. Their roses including HT ‘Blushing Yuki’ and some amazing Clinophylla hybrids are planted in the garden.
Mrs. Helga Brichet, Santa Maria, Italy : She has greatly contributed to the preservation of heritage roses through her activities in the WFRS. From her own collection, many rare China roses and Gigantea hybrids were donated to us.
Vintage Gardens in California, US : The gardens donated to us 50 very rare heritage roses from their collection.
Huaian Rose Garden, Jiangsu Province, China : It sent us old China and Tea roses originating in China with Chinese names. It is said some of them were raised in the 12th century.
Prof. Yoshihiro Ueda, Japan : From his precious collection of wild roses from Japan and China, many roses, including very attractive R. chinensis spontanea, were donated to us.
Dr. Yuki Mikanagi, Japan : She is a specialist in wild roses in Japan and in rose pigments. She donated to us many of rare specimens, e.g. R. luciae ‘Anemone Form’ and R. sambucina.

Seizo Suzuki Memorial Library

Mr. Suzuki was a great collector of books and documents not only on roses but also in many other fields. His collection contained 9,000 items in total. After his death, Mrs. Haruyo Suzuki donated all of this collection, and things he used such as cameras, secateurs, glasses and neckties, to Sakura City in 2005. The library is to preserve these items and display them to the public. It took a long time to put all these items in order, but we know how precious they are to rose lovers in Japan. They are, so to speak, living witnesses of Japan’s rose history. When we see old letters Mr. Suzuki received from eminent rosarians of the world, e.g. Mr. Graham Thomas, Mr. Jack Harkness, and Mr. Trevor Griffiths, we are impressed by their genuine friendship developed through rose breeding and rose studies. We have been trying to find the best way to make these items accessible to as many rose lovers as possible.

Many thanks for the volunteers

Three thousand man-days of volunteers have worked hard to construct, operate, and manage the facilities of the garden, from 10 AM to 5 PM, in the heat of summer and the cold of winter, for 365 days a year. Some of them come from Tokyo spending two hours on buses and trains. Even ladies sometimes climb up on top of the arch for training ramblers. Without the work of these volunteers, it would be totally impossible to run the garden to preserve the precious roses donated by many people.

The future of the garden

We are planning on enlarging the garden, starting this autumn. We have a beautiful wooded slope in the garden, and are thinking of using it for making a new natural rose garden. Its theme is “Roses from China”. Wild roses from China, Chinas, Teas, Gigantea hybrids, etc. will be the features of this garden. We are also planning on inviting the WFRS Heritage Rose Conference to Sakura City in 2011. Though the plans are not yet concrete, if we are chosen to host the conference, it will be a great opportunity for us to express our gratitude to all the people who have supported us - presenting us with precious varieties of roses, and working hard every day in the garden - as well as to contribute to the development of rose culture, and to the promotion of friendship among rose lovers of the world.