With the cooperation of the Japan Branch of the Royal Horticultural Society, the JBS will hold a series of English garden lectures by Prof. Yutaka Akagawa (Professor Emeritus at Meiji Gakuin University) who has studied English garden history. Please see the outline below for the details of the lectures. To book, please register your full name and phone number with the JBS Secretariat by telephone or e-mail and make full payment to the bank account shown below. The closing dates are a week before each lecture. The talk will be in Japanese with Q&A in English and Japanese.

The speaker Yutaka Akagawa, Ph.D. is a professor Emeritus of English at Meiji Gakuin University. He has held teaching posts at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Aoyama Gakuin University, Asahi Culture Centre and NHK Culture Centre. His publications include Igirisu teien Sansaku (Iwanami), Eikoku Teien wo Tabisuru (Bunka Publication Bureau), Eikoku Garden Monogatari (Kenkyusha), A Brief History of the English Garden (Nan’un –do publishing) and so on.

11th March
The position of the English garden in the garden history of the world, and its character
Why do English gardens have their distinctive character? Prof. Akagawa will explain the historical and social background of English gardens, and the changes of English garden style in chronological order. Also he will focus on the landscape garden, and talk on its technical and social historical background. Prof. Akagawa thinks that the design of gardens is not an expression of technique, but an expression of thought and philosophy.

25th March
How were landscape gardens seen and evaluated?
The “Picturesque theory” encouraged the reshaping of English gardens. For instance, country cottages, which were removed from the English garden scenery, re-appeared in landscape gardens, and then the “Country style” was established. In this lecture, Prof. Akagawa will talk on landscape gardens, neoclassical gardens, contemporary gardens and also future gardens in the UK.

Time: 1400-1530 hours *Door opens at 1330 hours.
Place: International House of Japan (5-11-16 Roppongi, Minato-ku Tel: 03-3470-4611)
Price: 2 sessions > Members JPY3,600 Guests JPY4,000
　　　　　Each lecture > Members JPY2,000 Guests JPY2,500