Hoshino Resorts KAI KagaGardens created

Ueyakato Landscape created the gardens at Hoshino Resorts KAI Kaga as spaces that communicate as sense of "local place." These gardens make maximum use of both Ishikawa Prefecture's "local figures" (things + people) and traditional Kyoto techniques. To create these gardens, we not only used trees, stones and tiles from Ishikawa Prefecture, we also cooperated closely with local craftsmen whose aesthetic sense, skills and knowledge have been nurtured by Ishikawa culture.
A "river stream" motif was used to establish an organic connection between the Front Garden, Inner Garden and Tea Garden.

Front Garden

A garden created to be suitable as the first space where guests are greeted. It harmonizes with the resort's historical buildings and their rouge lattices (bengaragoshi), a symbol of the Kaga region. This is a highly refined garden that uses the traditional approaches of master gardeners such as "scattered hailstone pavement" (ararekoboshi) and nobedan pavement to create an unrivaled welcome space.

Inner Garden

This garden allows guests to feel the culture of the Kaga region. It condenses well-known cultural elements from Ishikawa, including tile patterns that resemble yuzen (Ishikawa's dyed silk fabric), "kotoji" stone lanterns like those found in Kenroku-en Garden, Japanese red pines (akamatsu) from the Noto Peninsula, and red walls painted with a local red earth pigment known as "bengara." The tiles are made of Kutani porcelain and feature a five colored glaze pattern (green, yellow, purple, indigo and red) known as kutani gosai. This is a dazzling garden featuring the vivid seasonal colors of camellias, brilliant red Noto kirishima azaleas, Japanese maples, wild cherry blossoms, plum blossoms and other trees.

Tea Garden

This serene space reminds us of being in the mountains. The history of this space is conveyed through large Japanese cedars and old maples, both elements associated with the tea houses of Rosanjin, the gourmet connoisseur who once lived in this area. Here we created tranquil scenery where guests can encounter "the spirit of devoted hospitality" (omotenashi no kokoro) that pervades the tea ceremony and spend a moment of peaceful calm. Because the tea garden is located beyond the Inner Garden and Front Garden in the upper part of the stream we have made it into a garden with a striking look and a dynamic waterfall stone arrangement.

Bath Garden

For this garden, we created a scene like that of looking out at a picture from inside a bath. It is a space with no significant changes occur throughout the year where time appears to have stopped. Islands made of stone countertops and moss float in gravel that suggests a water surface. Sculpted pines on the stone countertops and bamboo fences (Koetsu-ji Temple fences**) bring an enchanting feeling to this limited amount of space. In the winter, a feeling of the season and a sense of Ishikawa Prefecture are evoked by wrapping the pines in rope, a practice known as "yukitsuri" traditionally used in this area to protect trees from snow damage.

Taken together, the gardens at Hoshino Resorts KAI Kaga embody the rich potential Kyoto gardening techniques have for collaborative creativity with regional cultures. The result is a consummate space of hospitality that offers guests the chance to enjoy Ishikawa tradition at its finest.