Name: Sumiyoshi Jinja Suminoe no niwa    Alternate Name:   Address: 14, Baika 3-chome, Konohana-ku  Mailing Address:   City: Osaka-shi  State: Osaka-fu  Postal Code:   Country: JAPAN  Latitude/Longitude: lat=34.667; long=135.45 Find Gardens Nearby Phone:   Fax:   E-Mail:   Contact:   Designer(s): Shigemori Mirei  Contruction Date: 1966  Public/Private: PUBLIC  Hours:   Admission:   Added to JGarden: 9/6/2004  Last Updated: 9/6/2004  JGarden Description: This is one of the very ancient and revered Shinto shrines of Japan located at the southern end of the city near the new Kansai International Airport. It is said to have been originally built in the time of Empress Suiko, as a protection for ship sailing to Korea for trade and cultural contact. Gardens are not usually associated with shrines, but Shigemori pioneered this genre. The garden has strong reference to the sea. Concrete lines meander across sand and stone, lined with tiny outcroppings of moss and ground cover. The stones are arranged in Horai style, referring to the gods of the sea. Similar to Kasuga, the stone arrangements are in 3/5/7 groupings (numbers traditionally assocated with Shinto). The waving concrete lines become more wavy as they approach the 'shore'. A bamboo fence on one side completed the scene, but it has been replaced with something simpler and can only be appreciated in books at this point. Transport: Approximately 200m south of the 'Shikanjima 2-chome' City Bus Stop

Aoyama Cemetary Not the snows of Fuji Nor the auspicious plume     Of the white heron Nor the sea-foam of Atami     Is so white As the cherries of Aoyama:     Letting fall The freshness of evanescence     On the carved stones of the dead.   John M. Steadman   20th Century