Another small slice of Japan, so far from Japan

Travel Reports by fatgermanbloke

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January 17, 2013 - Another small slice of Japan, so far from Japan

Japanese Garden in D�sseldorf and the EKŌ house/temple

The first stop of this day was in the Japanese Garden in D�Eseldorf -or Duesseldorf for the umlaut challenged people :D -, which is the state capitol of North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. For some reason, Duesseldorf has the biggest population of Japanese people in Germany. A bit over 8000 Japanese live there (1% of the total population of Duesseldorf) and over 450 Japanese companies do business in the city, while a good portion even have their German/European headquarters there.

The influx of Japanese people had of course an impact. It is the only little Japantown in Germany -probably the only in Europe- with it's own shopping streets, banks, hotels, schools ect.

In 1975 the Japanese Garden was built after a design by Iwaki Ishiguro and is a copy of a garden from Japan -though I do not know which one-. It is located in one of the cities bigger parks and open to the public for free.

All pictures in full resolution at:
http://www.lucksi.com/gallery/main.php

chestnut tree still in full bloom, but just past their prime

Now we come to the EK? house/temple and it's temple grounds. It is the only temple of J?do-Shinsh? Buddhism in Europe. The house serves as cultural center and has a temple hall. The grounds are simply stunning.

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List of Posts:
2013/01/17 - Another small slice of Japan, so far from Japan
2013/01/16 - A small slice of Japan, so very far from Japan