Exhibition: Japan at Kew Gardens

Come to Kew Gardens this autumn to explore the fascinating plants, art and culture of Japan.

Included with entry to the Gardens.

Art installations

In a year when travel has been limited, Kew Gardens is celebrating the fascinating culture of Japan, with a large-scale artistic installation, One Thousand Springs by Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota forming a magnificent centrepiece to the festival. Renowned for her vast, room-spanning webs of thread installations, through which she explores human existence, the piece will be suspended from the roof of the Temperate House. One Thousand Springs will be an intricate construction of 5,000 haikus suspended within the red threads and tell the stories of our connections with nature.

Horticultural installations

Stunning horticultural displays will be seen in the Temperate House Octagons with a specially commissioned Chalk Garden, a striking contemporary response to a Japanese garden, showcasing native plants including grasses, shrubs and trees. The garden will be a place to pause and contemplate.

Kew’s own horticultural team have designed a spectacular display celebrating the magnificent Chrysanthemum, Japan’s national flower. Chrysanthemums are culturally important in Japan and feature on passports and banknotes. Kiku Matsuri (Chrysanthemum Festivals) feature across Japan in October. The display will feature six varieties of chrysanthemums with yellow, orange and white blooms to evoke the setting sun in autumn and create a cheerful blaze of colour.

Visitors can also encounter an emotive, immersive soundscape by sound artist Yosi Horikawa within the Temperate House, capturing the harmonious natural sounds of the rivers and waterfalls of Kagoshima, as well atmospheric soundscapes as from the Cedar mountains of Gifu and bird calls set across the waves of the Philippine Sea.

Autumn activities

Outside the Temperate House visitors can enjoy the tradition of Momijigari, the Japanese custom of autumn leaf hunting, visiting areas where leaves have changed into spectacular yellows, reds and burnt oranges. A Momijigari trail across the Gardens will encompass the areas of stunning autumn foliage across Kew’s 14,000 strong tree collection, as well as Japanese landmarks such as Chokushi-Mon and the Japanese Garden, and the Minka House.