Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Gardens

For almost two decades the Japanese Garden was in process … envisioned, planned, and painstakingly created under the expert guidance of Hoichi Kurisu (pictured below), a master designer of Japanese gardens.

A garden in the Japanese style is intended to offer peace and quiet contemplation … with restraint, order, harmony, and decorum as the guiding design principles. It is an expression of love for living things, acceptance of the transience of nature reflected in the changing seasons, and an inspired vision of the eternal.

A Japanese garden designed by Hoichi Kurisu, covers 14 acres, including a 4-1/2 acre lake. This is a chisen kaiyu-shiki or “wet strolling garden.”