When you think of the quintessential Japanese garden, your mind probably drifts toward Kyoto’s moss-covered pathways and elegant pines framing historic tearooms. Yet year after year, international horticulture experts reach a conclusion that might catch you by surprise: the top-rated garden in Japan is not in Kyoto or Tokyo, but in Shimane.
For the 23rd consecutive year, the Adachi Museum of Art in Yasugi City, Shimane Prefecture, has claimed the top spot in the annual rankings compiled by the Journal of Japanese Gardening, a bimonthly English-language publication based in the United States.
The rankings are determined by roughly 30 landscape experts from the United States, Europe and beyond, who evaluate more than 1,000 gardens throughout Japan. Assessments look beyond historical significance or popularity, taking into account factors such as the garden’s quality, harmony with its surroundings and maintenance.
Adachi once again edged out Kyoto’s celebrated Katsura Imperial Villa, which ranked second. Rounding out the top five were Yamamoto-tei in Tokyo, Matsudaya Hotel in Yamaguchi and Minamikan Restaurant, also in Shimane.
Adachi Museum of Art: Framed by Living Paintings
Covering roughly 165,000 square meters, the Adachi Museum of Art was founded in 1970 by local businessman Zenko Adachi. The museum’s collection centers on works Adachi acquired over his lifetime — an extensive selection of modern Japanese-style paintings (nihonga) including more than 120 works by Yokoyama Taikan.
Adachi believed that viewing fine art and nature should be a seamless experience, which shaped the building’s unique architecture. Expansive windows frame the central garden from various viewpoints, allowing visitors to appreciate the landscape as a living painting that shifts with the changing light and seasons.
The grounds unfold across several themed areas, ranging from the Moss Garden and the Pond Garden to the White Gravel and Pine Garden and the Dry Landscape Garden. Across all of them, the landscapers incorporate shakkei, the traditional Japanese technique of “borrowed scenery,” bringing the surrounding trees, boulders and vegetation into views that extend toward the undulating ridges of the San’in Mountains.
Shimane: Japan’s Most Underrated Prefecture
Despite the Adachi Museum of Art’s reputation among garden lovers and domestic travelers, Shimane Prefecture remains relatively overlooked by international tourists, even though it has plenty to offer — beautiful coastlines, incredible seafood and some of the oldest, grandest Shinto architecture in the country.
In the lakeside city of Matsue, you can drift past weeping willows on wooden canal boats through historic castle moats, or visit Matsue Castle, one of Japan’s 12 original castles and a National Treasure.
Another must-see landmark is Izumo Taisha, widely considered one of the oldest and most revered Shinto shrines in Japan. The shrine’s most iconic feature is its massive shimenawa — a twisted straw rope that marks the boundary between the ordinary world and sacred ground. Many Japanese travel to Shimane to visit the shrine, as it’s said to bless marriages and relationships of all kinds.
For more info, visit the Adachi Museum of Art website.
