-fostering gardens-

Ueyakato Landscape uses traditional Japanese garden fostering techniques to nurture new scenery that will last for generations to come.

Scenery is created by the natural environment, human activity, and the society that surrounds both of them.
By incorporating into today’s society the techniques that have been used to tend to gardens for centuries, we can also nurture an enriched scenery for the future.

In addition to garden creation and management, we are devoted to utilizing gardens in accordance with their surrounding social environment.
To the greatest degree possible, we draw out the appeal that Japanese gardens have as points of convergence where varied forms of Japanese culture come together.
Our aim is to contribute to the creation of a better society by continuously nurturing these gardens and communicating their value to the world.

Kyoto’s gardeners have long engaged with nature, thoroughly observing its changes and characteristics down to the finest detail, and reflecting them in their expression of space. In this unprecedented age where people, money and information circulate at unimaginably fast speeds, Ueyakato Landscape strives to discover genuine value that can lead people and society toward a brighter future.

What's "Fostering"?

Overview Message from the President Corporate history Award Recent cases Craftsman qualifications Jobs Inquiries

Overview

Company Name: UEYAKATO LANDSCAPE Co., Ltd

Address: Nishiteranomae-cho 45, Shishigatani, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8425, Japan

TEL: +81-75-771-3052

FAX: +81-75-752-0154

Mail: kyoto-office@ueyakato.co.jp

Established: 1848

Capital: \42.6 million

Number of employees: 129

Board of Directors: Chairman Daiki Kato
President Tomoki Kato
Director Yoshiki Kato
Executive Yoshiyuki Tajiri
Executive Hajime Anno

Business: Landscape gardening services (Surveillance, planning, design, construction, maintenance and management of gardens, parks, greens, and forests)

Message from the President

In today’s ultra-convenient society, Japanese gardens, which sometimes are fostered over a period of several centuries, must seem quite inefficient. We believe, however, that it is precisely in our present age that garden fostering techniques may hold the value we need to help shape a better society.

When raising a Japanese garden, actual garden creation consists of 40%, whereas garden fostering is 60%. Garden creation requires a large amount of human and financial capital, which makes a garden’ s construction all the more joyous an occasion. What is important, however, is the fostering of the garden that comes later. This means not just pruning branches, but ceaselessly realizing the garden’s potential as an expression of space. It means sensitively grasping the property owner’s ideas and the garden’s distinctive character as well as accepting and understanding the natural landscape. To do so, we must not only tend the garden directly, but communicate its appeal in easy-to-understand terms and thereby nurture a spirit of cherishing gardens. It is through this nurturing act that Japanese gardens provide us with enrichment and peace of mind that all people can share in.

About 1,200 years ago, the “Sakuteiki” (Records of Garden Making) taught us that man-made gardens never exceed the beauty of nature. This means human technique is never superior to nature’s design, and we must thus honor nature and learn from it. As we approach our daily work of nurturing gardens in Kyoto, Japan and throughout the world, we keep in our hearts this message from our forebears.

Ueyakato Landscape Co., Ltd. President Tomoki Kato

Professor of Japanese Garden Studies at Kyoto University of the Arts (PhD). Born 1966, in Kyoto. Entered his family’s landscaping business after graduating from Chiba University’s Faculty of Horticulture.
Tomoki Kato continues to train himself daily in pursuit of an organization of professional landscape craftsmen who carry on Japanese garden culture while also creating tradition through their superior skills and aesthetic sensitivity.
At Kyoto University of the Arts, he currently advises garden research that is grounded in practical learning. He gives frequent lectures both in Japan and abroad, including the 2014 and 2018 keynote speeches at the international conference of the North American Japanese Garden Association (NAJGA).

Main awards
Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture Award (Research Thesis Category) | May 2013
2018 ICOMOS Japan Award | December 2018
Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture Award (Technical Skill Category) | May 2019
Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture Award (Business Management Category) | May 2021

Main affiliations
Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture (supervisor), The Academic Society of Japanese Gardens (board member), The Japanese Society for Cultural Heritage, The Japan Society for the Conservation of Cultural Property, The Japan Society for the History of Industrial Technology, Shiseki to Bijutsu Dokokai (Historic Site and Art Appreciation Society) (board member)

Special Interview
-> Dr. Kendall Brown (North America Japanese Garden Association (NAJGA) Board President)x Tomoki Kato "The 21st Century's Classic Landscape is a Japanese Garden" (January, 2015)
-> Stephen D. Bloom (CEO of the Portland Japanese Garden) x Tomoki Kato x Yamaguchi "Engagement That Creates a Harmonious Relationship Between People and Garden" (October, 2015)

Our Business Philosophy

Through our gardening business we aim to keep our employees happy both physically and spiritually, and also contribute to the progress and development of human society.

Vision

Permanence and Fashionability

As a sustainably developing company, we contribute to society by passing down "permanence," the essential things that never change, while also incorporating "fashionability," the things changing constantly in response to the needs of each age.

Permanence: Passing Down and Innovating Japanese Garden Culture

The spirit, skill, and stamina necessary to carry on the Japanese garden, a traditional culture admired by the world. The discernment and technique of Kyoto gardeners.

Fashionability: Our Landscape Service Business

In addition to our usual business of creating and fostering gardens, we also create premium guest reception spaces for owners and their associates that draw out the garden's allure to the greatest possible degree.