Following the previous article, here is the Makino Memorial Garden in Nerima Ward, Tokyo. If you are wondering who is Dr. Tomitaro Makino, please note that he is the botanist who became the model for the NHK TV drama “Ran-man”.
There is no plant you can call “a weed”..
These are the famous words of Dr. Makino, a great lover of plants.
All of the flowers and grasses planted throughout the Makino Memorial Garden are labeled with their names, and indeed, everything has a name.
I am sorry to say that I, an ignorant person with a dull mind, can only see “ah, there are weeds growing” when I look at these “weeds” without being aware of them, but I can catch a glimpse of his passion as a scholar who cannot help but reveal the names of all these plants.
This is a Sendaiya cherry tree that is endemic to Tosa, his hometown, and that he has taken great pains to preserve.
This tree will be even more exquisite when it blooms.
However, I am a philistine after all, so I am more attracted to the flowers blooming in this season than to the plain grass. The hydrangea was beautiful.
Since I brought my macro lens with me, I also took one close-up photo, although it was tough with handhold.
Here’s what I thought was the centerpiece of the park’s exhibit.
Dr. Makino’s study and study room are preserved as they were. The desk at which he actually sat and spent his time researching literature has been preserved as is.
The specimens in his collection have been handed over to the Tokyo Metropolitan University and the books to a specialized institution in Kochi Prefecture, so the piles of books here are probably not “real” but were arranged for this exhibit.
This book house is not a reproduction or relocation, it was really here originally, and the entire building is enclosed and preserved indoors. Wow.
I was so caught up in the power of the bookstore that I came home and forgot to visit the important “exhibition room”. I have no idea what I’m doing here.
But it’s okay, I now have an excuse to visit the museum again.
There were red and white higanbana (cluster amaryllis) planted, so I will come back again when they are in bloom.
So, that was my two-part report on my stroll through the Makino Memorial Garden.
