In the Jardín Japonés

We used one of the warm and sunny days this week to check out the Jardín Japonés, an immaculately landscaped garden created in 1979, on the centenary of the arrival of Argentina’s first Japanese immigrants. The map seemed to suggest that the garden was located just past the zoo, but when we arrived there, we found your average, run-of-the-mill park, complete with sunbathers and people tossing tennis balls to dogs. We pondered whether it was possible for the city to be lazy enough about celebrating its Japanese citizens to simply set aside a patch of grass and call it the Jardín Japonés. But we found the real garden soon after.

Upon arriving, we realized that we weren’t quite sure what we were doing there. Having no special affinity for Japanese culture, and not having experienced all that much of Argentine culture, why were we interested in an Argentine homage to the Japanese? We never did answer this question, but we did eat some pretty tasty sushi. We also watched children feed koi fish, walked the circumference of the garden, and managed a Gothic Lolita sighting. Gothic Lolita sightings are usually enough to make any trip a success, so I guess we ended up to the good. -NSH