Japanese gardens are not parks per se, but rather works of art, three-dimensional paintings depicting exotic landscapes. All the rocks, plants, lake systems and waterfalls are precisely positioned, together creating a spontaneous effect, like the aerial movements of a ballet dancer behind which lie years of practice. Budapest has several Japanese gardens, the main one visited by the son of the emperor in the 1930s.
The
princely couple liked it so much that they sent over Japanese plants from the
Imperial Court. Today there are even a few specimens that have grown from the
propagation of these gifts. The old teahouse they sat in was later struck by
lightning, but a new one was built recently using the original Japanese
technology.
Here’s a
selection of photos from the renovated gardens, and other examples from around
Budapest: