It has long been my dream that Japan would host the “ASPAC Bonsai and Suiseki Convention & Exhibition and I was elated and, quite honestly, moved to tears when Japan was chosen. It is a great honor for Japan and for me personally to host this wonderful event.

There will be many events held at Takamatsu-Sunport area, Ritsurin Garden and Tamamo Park in the host city of Takamatsu in Kagawa Prefecture. I will also be a tremendous honor for me to host you as my guests at my Bonsai garden Takasago-An which is scheduled on the last day of ASPAC.

Takasago-An Bonsai garden is in Nihama city in Ehime prefecture. It is located very near the Niihama interchange on highway from Takamatsu city to Matsuyama city.

I was inspired to create the “Takasago-An Dry Landscape Garden” from my desire to express the deep traditional Japanese culture with the lush mountain green of the magnificent Shikoku Mountain Range region as a background. In this garden there are numerous famous old trees such as the Shinpaku, Pine, Ichii, Maki, Tosho, Hiragi, Gaya as well as stone Lanterns which are about 300~1000 years old. In addition, there are 500 trees those are 150~200 years of age, which arranged to evoke the painting drawn by the famous Edo-era artist, Hiroshige Ando, which depicts his 53 stages of the Tokaido road. The dry landscape garden was arranged with rocks and sand to express the flow of the water in a river. A slightly elevated ridgeline bends in the north and south, and, there is a promenade in the central part where you can enjoy the changes in scenery and topography. Also if you climb a nearby mountain, you can enjoy a view of the garden in its entirety.

I am very much looking forward to seeing all of you in the fall.

11th Asia-Pacific Takamatsu Conference Organizing Committee
Honorary Chairman
Daizo Iwasaki