Japan is replete with beautiful gardens, and it’s hard to imagine how any particular specimen – much less a relatively new arrival to the scene – could possibly stand above the many other horticultural masterpieces sprinkled across the country. Indeed, one might argue that no single Japanese garden can rightfully seize the crown of “undisputed best” in what is, after all, an immeasurably vast collection of incomparably different works of landscaping art. Nevertheless, with sufficient breadth of time and travel, one is likely to compile a mental catalogue of those special places that could, at the very least, be advanced with confidence as potential claimants to the throne.
And on a rainy July day last year, I added one more garden to my list.
Within striking distance 