Yokosuka and Atsugi join the Kanagawa Pavilion garden, with Kamakura temples, farm co-ops and five farm schools

• Kanagawa Prefecture named, on 6 October 2026, the cities and groups that will take part in the outdoor garden of its pavilion, Vibrant INOCHI Forest Kanagawa Pavilion. Atsugi City released the news at the same time.
• The garden is laid out in the shape of the prefecture’s terrain. Flowers and greenery from different parts of Kanagawa will be replanted as the seasons change.
• Two cities exhibit jointly with the prefecture. Yokosuka’s part shows Sarushima, the natural island in Tokyo Bay, the sea and hills, and the city’s part in Japan’s modernisation. Atsugi plants flowers grown in the city and shows its city bird (the long-tailed tit), its ayu river fish, the fireworks of the Atsugi Ayu Festival and its hot springs.
• Among the partner groups, a committee of Kamakura shrines and temples builds a Japanese garden. Three farm co-operative bodies (JA Yokosuka Hayama, Miura City Agricultural Co-operative and JA Kanagawa Chuokai) show the vegetable-growing landscape of the Miura Peninsula, including the work of growing and tending crops.
• Five agricultural high schools (Hiratsuka Nosho, Chuo Nogyo, Aihara, Miura Hasse and Yoshidajima) use flowers, vegetables and woodwork made at school. A wooden deck runs from the entrance to the back, and there is a photo spot styled as a classroom with a decorated blackboard.
• The release includes images and a map of where each part sits. It does not give the period for any of them.

Our take

When the prefecture showed the garden on 8 September, it described a central flower bed, timber reused from the Grand Ring of Expo 2025 Osaka, an aquaponics system and a garden by five agricultural high schools (see our Kanagawa Pavilion guide). This release adds the names of the cities and groups behind each part, and lists the five schools.

The subjects differ from one part to the next. Yokosuka has an island and its history. Atsugi has a bird, a fish, fireworks and hot springs. The farm co-ops are not showing a finished landscape. They say they will show the work itself. So a garden that people walk through to look at flowers will also contain a working vegetable plot.

Only two cities are named, Yokosuka and Atsugi. The prefecture writes that the garden will be shown “while replanting”, so we think other municipalities may take a turn during the 192 days. The release does not say whether more will join, or whether these two parts stay for the whole season.

Tips for visitors

• If you are going for the Yokosuka, Atsugi, Kamakura or Miura parts, wait for the dates before choosing a day. This release has none.
• The students’ part includes a blackboard photo spot. The five schools are Hiratsuka Nosho, Chuo Nogyo, Aihara, Miura Hasse and Yoshidajima. The English forms of the school names are ours.
• The indoor exhibits, the mascots and the musical are covered in our Kanagawa Pavilion guide.
• For ticket types and how to buy, see the ticket guide.