- The Urban Greening Organization has announced the fourth event in its series introducing GREEN×EXPO 2027. The organiser is the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, with Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City and the Kyoto City Greening Association as co-organisers.
- It runs from 13:30 to 16:00 on 24 October 2026 (Saturday), with reception from 13:00, at the Midori-no-Yakata hall and the Suzaku Garden in Umekoji Park, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto. The release text says “24 October (Sunday)”, but the flyer in the same release says Saturday, which matches the calendar.
- Part one is a talk with Toshihiro Inoue (director for the Japanese government’s outdoor exhibit at GREEN×EXPO 2027 and senior managing director of Ueyoshi Zoen, a Kyoto garden firm), Makoto Suzuki (professor emeritus, Tokyo University of Agriculture) and garden designer Yuri Ugaya. An official from Kyoto City’s greenery policy office moderates.
- Part two, from 15:00, is a guided tour of the Suzaku Garden, led by Inoue and others who worked on building it.
- Entry is free with advance booking: about 60 places at the venue and about 100 online, first come, first served.
- The Suzaku Garden is a pond garden made to mark the 1,200th anniversary of Kyoto’s founding as the capital, with a central pond called the “Water Mirror”.
- The English names of the organising foundation and the hall are our renderings.
Our take
Toshihiro Inoue is one of the directors of the Japanese Government Garden at GREEN×EXPO 2027, which two ministries are building around the idea of a “Reiwa-era Japanese garden” (see our article on the garden). Here he walks visitors through a Kyoto garden he helped make. The Yokohama garden is not finished, so seeing an earlier garden by the same hands is one of the few ways to preview it before opening day.
The Suzaku Garden dates from the Heisei era, and the flyer describes it as full of new ideas. The title’s “from Heisei to Reiwa” points from that garden to the one being made for Yokohama. How a designer draws the line between traditional and modern is a useful question to carry into the Expo’s own garden. The talk starts at 13:30, which leaves the morning free. Umekoji-Kyotonishi is also the nearest station to the Kyoto Railway Museum, about 2 minutes away, so a morning at the museum and an afternoon in the garden fit into one day.
Tips for visitors
- Book on the Peatix page (Japanese). Places close when full.
- From Kyoto Station, take the JR Sagano Line one stop to Umekoji-Kyotonishi and walk about 3 minutes, or walk about 15 minutes west from the Central Exit.
- For the garden itself, see our article on the Japanese Government Garden.
Our take
A free chance to hear, before opening, from a garden maker building the Japanese government's garden for the Expo. You can join online, and places are first come, first served. The release says Sunday, but 24 October is a Saturday.