The construction process and its background of Mt. Hakkoda alpine garden, Tohoku Imperial University

Abstract

The aim of this study is to obtain the construction process and its background of Mt. Hakkoda alpine garden, Tohoku Imperial University. The garden was established in 1929 as the branch of the Biological Institute of Tohoku Imperial University. In 1928 and 1929, a lot of rocks were piled up in the alpine garden which remains traditional Japanese design, in a part, by the famous Japanese gardener Toranosuke Shibata. The garden is consisted of many native trees such as shrubs and herbaceous perennials. The rock garden with various kind of alpine plants collected from several high mountains. They are all kept well in the natural conditions and are providing valuable research materials for researchers and precious scenic beauty for plants lovers. The garden was built with the financial support by Aomori prefecture for the purpose of rural promotion of the prefectural government. The landscape of the rock garden with surrounding mountains in the background was similar to that of the Linnaea garden in Switzerland.