Canberra Nara Peace Park
Canberra Nara Peace Park features a small Japanese-themed garden, large wooden gate and gazebo, and a number of iconic cherry blossom trees. It also has two large stone lanterns: a large Kasuga lantern weighing 5 tonnes and a large Yukimi lantern weighing 3 tonnes.
The park was officially renamed to Canberra Nara Peace Park in 2010 and the occasion was marked by the commissioning of a major new artwork by the Japanese sculptor Shinki Kato. Shinki Kato's pagoda, made of pre-rusted steel plates, is 8 metres tall and references Nara's famous 5-storey pagoda, erected in 725 by the Empress Komyoh.
The gardens were a gift from the people of Nara to the people of Canberra and celebrate the sister city link between Canberra, Australia’s modern capital, and Nara, Japan’s ancient capital.
Design and construction was carried out by local designers and contractors who consulted closely with the city of Nara and the Embassy of Japan. The park was designed to create the feel of a traditional Japanese garden within the surrounds of a Canberra public park. A distinctive feature of Canberra Nara Peace Park is its ‘borrowed landscape’ or the extension of the park's boundaries to encompass landmarks such as Lake Burley Griffin, Black Mountain, Mount Ainslie and Lotus Bay.
Plantings include:
- 24 cherry blossom trees
- 4 crepe myrtles
- 10 Japanese maples
- 1 Japanese red pine
- Japanese lily of the valley (which is the most common shrub grown in the city of Nara's parks because the deer will not nibble its leaves)