Gardening with Free Ideas: An Interview with Gardener Wakui

There is a garden surrounding Tsugumori's cafe and accommodation building. The playful Tsugumori Garden was created by Michio Wakui.

Originally from Suzaka City, Nagano Prefecture, Wakui moved to the United States in his twenties and worked in garden design as head gardener for the Japanese Garden Society in Portland, Oregon.

Since returning to Japan, he has worked on numerous gardens, proposing comfortable spaces that suit the lifestyles of the people who live there, without being bound by Japanese or Western styles.

This time we interviewed Wakui. We asked him about how he ended up settling in Komoro after moving to the US, and about Tsugumori Garden.

- Please tell us about the process from when you moved to the United States to when you started working in landscaping in Komoro.

That would be a long story (laughs).

I was working in the US with permanent residency, but my kidneys started to deteriorate. My doctor told me that under my condition at the time, I would need dialysis for the rest of my life. When I was sick, American food was hard on my body. My mind was also getting weaker, and I had a strong desire to return to Japan. At the time, a Japanese doctor was doing training at a hospital in Oregon, and he was able to introduce me to a hospital in Tokyo, so I decided to return to Japan. I was 26 years old.

He received treatment at a hospital in Tokyo and recovered enough to avoid dialysis, but he was no longer able to do hard landscaping work. He also struggled to maintain his U.S. permanent residency, so with the help of his brother, he worked as a staff member at a facility for people with disabilities in Shizuoka for about five years.

- After returning to Japan and undergoing treatment, you lived in Shizuoka for a while before returning to Nagano.

Influenced by American hippie culture, my dream was to build my own house somewhere beautiful in the countryside, so when I returned to Nagano, I looked for land in Komoro and built my own house.

I gradually started working in landscaping. Gardening was booming at the time. But gardeners are different from gardeners. There were few people who dealt with flowers.

Meanwhile, in Tokyo, an increasing number of people had studied gardening in the UK, the birthplace of gardening. I got to know these people and had the opportunity to be involved in landscaping rooftop gardens at department stores and English gardens.

He had many opportunities to create Western-style gardens that were not limited to Japanese gardens, and while taking on such landscaping jobs in various places, he enjoyed living in the countryside and traveling, which he loved, during the winter.

- What prompted you to become more involved in Komoro?

There were two events that triggered this. It all happened 16 or 17 years ago.

The first was working on the "Station Garden" in front of Komoro Station. I was approached by someone involved in Komoro's urban development and became involved.

The second is publishing a book. Around the same time as I was thinking about the station garden, an editor at the Shinano Mainichi Shimbun asked me if I would like to write a book about gardening from Shinshu. I agreed to co-author it with someone named Koshi, so we decided to publish the book.

After I worked on the train station garden and published the book, I started to get a lot of work. I didn't turn down anything that came my way, and I worked as if I was working in order to travel.

- Please tell us how you became involved with Tsugumori.

It all started when the owner, Junko, came to visit Wakui Garden. As those of you who have spoken to her directly will know, Junko has a strong ability to get people involved, so I ended up getting drawn into her.

- How did you develop Tsugumori from a wasteland into the garden it is today?

We started developing the area two years ago. At the time, we didn't have any specific plans or themes, and Tsugumori was like a jungle with no room to stand. So we just cleared the undergrowth, cut down trees, and built paths.

Before long, plans for a cafe and accommodation facilities were emerging. I accepted the offer for the garden with the feeling that I had no choice but to go ahead with it. However, I didn't know what kind of building would be created. Intuitively, I thought it would be better to go ahead with no plan. Now I think that was the right decision.

That's because a lot of unexpected things happened at Tsugumori.

When we dug to install the foundation and septic tank, we found a lot of stones. We used them for retaining walls, rock gardens, and stone approaches. We also used cut red pine firewood in Swiss piles and as benches.

If you make a plan from the beginning, you can't use unexpected materials, but if you don't have a plan, you have no choice but to improvise and think on the spot. Depending on the job, you may draw a precise picture and proceed, but with Tsugumori, even if you draw it, it doesn't always turn out exactly as you drew it. I actually found "no plan" and "improvisation" to be good. And I think it means that I have the ability to improvise to that extent.

- Although you've created improvisations in a variety of places, the fact that they all harmonize as a whole is probably a culmination of your experience.

That's right. That might be the ideal way to work. Moving away from following a plan or estimate, and instead improvising with a free mind, looking at the materials, I think that was the best way to landscape and create the scenery for this place. I wonder if that's okay, and to be honest, I feel that it was the only way.

In that respect, I was really helped by Yamamoto-san, who worked with me on the landscaping work this time. I couldn't have done these past two months without him. I really don't think it's just my own efforts, but the culmination of the efforts of the many people who have come to this forest.

- Whenever you reach out to someone, professionals in a variety of fields lend you their support. How did you build such a network?

It wasn't intentional, but I've built a network of people who are willing to help me when I need them. I can only say that I'm grateful for everyone's help. I think it shows that a job is completed with the help of many people, not just me.

- Please say a few words ahead of the opening on July 7th.

I hope it will become a place that many people will visit.

The garden is important, but the cafe's offerings are also important. The most important thing is for customers to want to come back, so I hope they will work hard to make it a success.

Thank you, Kazui-san.
When you visit Tsugumori, please feel free to stroll through the garden.

※Mr. Wakui and Mr. Yamamoto