Summer at the Yozo Shomei Art Museum in Kita-Kamakura. A garden conceptualized as a beautiful picture book. Experience the ultimate immersion created by the shade of green.

Hello. This is niwa.emon.

Summer in Kita-Kamakura. While touring the gardens of various temples, I encountered a garden with a slightly different atmosphere.

The road leading to the famous Meigetsu-in Temple is lined with a quiet residential area where a clear stream flows.

Standing in one corner of this area is the Yozo Shomei Art Museum.
A Western-style building and a small garden spreading out in front of it.

This place is designed so that the building and the garden together form a single 'beautiful picture book.' At the entrance, a large wrought-iron gate welcomes you.

When you enter the garden, the first thing that catches your eye is the six large, mature American sweetgum trees. They spread their branches and leaves to block the strong summer sun, creating a pleasant shade of green underneath.

It is by no means a large garden. However, after visiting the Japanese-style gardens at the temples of Kita-Kamakura, there is a different kind of freshness here.

An English-style country garden that complements the Western-style building. And a gentle, calm atmosphere that invites you into the world of a picture book. The design and layout of the building and garden were reportedly handled by the museum director and picture book author, Yozo Shomei, himself.
A front garden carefully crafted based on the concept of a 'beautiful picture book' to welcome visitors. Although it is completely different from a temple garden, it blends naturally into the landscape of Kita-Kamakura.
And above all, what left an impression on me when I visited in summer was the shade of green created by these large maple trees.
Standing under the dappled sunlight, there is a comfort that makes you forget the heat. It was a garden where you could spend a cool moment, stopping by the world of a picture book while touring the temples of Kita-Kamakura.

I was able to experience the ultimate sense of immersion created by the shade of green.