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FARAWAY FLOWER BEDS: Travel Agencies Cultivate Overseas Gardening Tours April 17, 1998  Japanese gardeners are finding an increasing range of foreign plants and accessories available for their projects. (Photo: Kyodo) For Japanese who want to study in Britain or New Zealand, improving English is usually the main motivation. But now an increasing number of young Japanese women go there to study gardening rather than English, as their interest in gardening--in yards or even on apartment balconies--grows. From the beginning of last year, a number of gardening courses have been opening in Japan, boosting the desire to study abroad. Gardens of England, New Zealand An agency in Tokyo offering overseas study programs has been recruiting gardening students since the beginning of 1997. In the package it offers, participants spend more than a month with a British or New Zealand family that owns a garden. According to the agency, the program gives participants an opportunity to "study gardening at its place of origin, and design a garden on a huge scale, which most Japanese have never seen." Around 100 people applied for this program; nearly all were working women, of whom 90% were in their twenties. At the end of 1997, 21 people took the trip, and 25 are scheduled to go this spring. If a month is too long, gardening fans can choose one of the short study programs that have recently appeared on the market. Since 1997, many travel agencies have been offering special short-term packages that combine gardening with language study. Meanwhile, more "culture schools," offering instruction
in various cultural activities, have been starting up
gardening courses since the end of 1997. One "culture
school" said that it wanted to open a course much earlier
because of the recent rise in the number of inquiries and
applicants, but did not have enough teachers with firsthand
experience in gardening. "Gardening" usually makes use of European and other plants not seen in traditional engei, which uses indigenous Japanese plants. Even the tools used in gardening have become fashionable. New large-scale retailers specializing in gardening have been opening for business, and existing outlets have been increasing their stock of Western-style gardening accessories. Young Japanese would like not so much to duplicate big gardens, as seen in England, as to brighten the tone of a limited space, such as a veranda or a room. Through this hobby, they are bringing greenery into their lives by decorating their living spaces. According to a study carried out by a liquor maker in the Tokyo area in 1997, 42% of 250 respondents, who were all aged 20 or over, said they started gardening to "enrich their lives." Though it originated in England, Japanese gardening has developed differently by adapting its style to Japanese streets and to Japanese households with relatively limited living space.
 Edited by Japan
Echo Inc. based on domestic Japanese news sources. Articles
presented here are offered for reference purposes and do not
necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese
Government.
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