LONDON Day One: Part 2 The Fukishima Garden
Well its been some three plus weeks since I started my travelogue and I am back to putting it down on paper. As I finished up at The Victoria and Albert Museum and traveled via the Kensington Park Flower Walk and passing the modest (compared to her husband) memorial to Queen Victoria I skirted the edge of Kensington Palace. Where I took a photo through the fence. And admired the gate.
Walking through some very posh neighborhoods to Holland Park, I stopped at a lovely upscale market, Bayley & Sage, where I picked up a fancy salad for an evening picnic at the so called Kyoto Garden, correctly called the Fukishima Garden. I had originally scheduled the garden on arrival in London, but then I read how it is a very busy destination, especially for proposals and engagement photos, so I put this at the end of my day instead. Unlike reasonable people who use their phone for walking directions I had several google maps I had printed out in advance, perhaps out of a fear of technology leaving me high and dry, if it failed… And to be honest I am a lover of maps, aka a cartophile. There’s something about studying a map that imprints the image and helps my sense of direction. Occasionally when my internal compass goes awry, its like losing my equilibrium. I have to keep spinning the map in my head until it is aligned with reality. As if a map is as real, as what it is supposed to represent. Some of you will know what I mean.
Why this garden? It isn’t as if I hadn’t seen Japanese Gardens before, but something made me want to see this one. Maybe it was because it seemed out of place.Growing up, I was very familiar with the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park and I have my own pseudo Japanese style garden in my front garden. Perhaps a beacon of serenity in an otherwise bustling city? Perhaps the use of Azaleas, Rhododendrons, water and stone, all things I love. On my way I passed this sweet dog waiting oh so patiently amidst the flowers. It reminded me of my son’s dog Booker…long ago…in a galaxy far away…when you travel there are always touch stones.
I had not made it to all that I had planned today, but I had made it to the Japanese garden. My feet and back hurt but I was in London and felt surprisingly at home in spite of exploring areas I had not been to before. I had walked and traveled a long way in a relatively short time. I was alone in a large city, which I had done before but this time it hadn’t been planned that way.
The plaque at the entrance to the garden. I was surprised that the garden was so young, less than 8 years old. My own home garden is 35! Motomiya is a city of about 30,000, about 10 miles south of Fukishima in Japan. Following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, in collaboration with Motomiya City, built the Fukushima Garden in Holland Park, London, as a symbol of unity and solidarity. Surprisingly the Japanese sister city to San Francisco, Osaka severed ties after 60 years in 2018 after a private group of citizens erected a statue in San Francisco memorializing the “Comfort Women” who were forced to work in Brothels from the early 1930s until Japan’s defeat in 1945. My home town does not have a sister city in Japan, but I do like these connections, between countries especially when they don’t become politicized.
I will let the pictures speak for themselves.
The last photo amused me as while the woman is stooping to feed and photograph the squirrels, she is unknowingly overseen by a crow, perched on a post right behind her, ready to swoop in. Parks are interesting places where people and nature interact, often in amusing ways.
I walked back to my home base for the next 3 nights at 20 Nevern Square in Earl’s Court. A neighborhood of Georgian Homes only a short walk from the Earl’s Court Tube station. I was happy with this as a quiet location to return to each night.
And thus ends the first day in London.
Previous posts on this trip:
- Arrival In London
- Traveling for Genealogy : Expectation vs Reality
Kelly Wheaton © 2025 – All Rights Reserved
Wheaton Wood 
Ĥello – Greetings Kelly,Thank you.for this latest blog.Clearly interested in Maps…and they don’t have to show”X” marks the Spot.Because…where you go and what you see’..are quite openly- Your Treasures.(Not below the furtile soil) On other “Life “..your paring of – ‘Crows’ and Squirrels ‘..-reminds me of our regular visits (Holidays) to East Yorkshire…(42 years )In Scarborough, there is a Lovely area..all the usual Trees, Bushes – Flowers a Large lake..Curved Seating areas’ Elevated Tea Rooms’and Wandering Geese..and nosey – smaller birds.Peasholme Park In Summer’and Autumn..they hold a “Battle of the Lake”..submerged crafts..(With a man in each to enact a Battle at Sea.)Shots / Smoke..for about 1 hour.Free to watch…. On the grassy expanses…Multitudes of Squirrels.They ‘Stare’ hopefully at visitors..who..( They Hope ) will drop goodies to them.Over the years, their succeeding Off-springs..are very tame..and ..very acrobatic.I got some enjoyable Video from those years. London…as with thousands of other venues..offer some Colourful Scenes..for the benifit of the ‘Creative Photographers. Beauty..( Still in the Eye of the beholder )-Hungerford. ? When did Dinosaurs give way, to Flora and Fauna ?(Just a thought) My London connection.Kenton,Harrow’ Middlesex.1. Our Honeymoon.2. My Mother’s relatives. On a visit to them..(Rather Posh.)….My Mother’s Cousin.. a very strident individual..pointed a finger at me..( I was 7.)She asked..”HAS YOUR MOTHER TOLDYOU, THAT YOU ARE RELATED TO FLORENCENIGHTINGALE ” ?At – 7 – that didn’t mean much.Only 70 years later..the information..magically appeared on my Laptop.(YES)My Uncle and Auntie..theyWe’re Well off..(Emphasis on Well )Uncle. ‘Tom’…was in the Saw-dust business.Buying any scrap timber and creating supplies..for theSport’s Organisations / Local Councils / Butchers / etc.Alas…along came the Hand Wheeled../ pushed marking machines..taking the back- ache, out of the job.He used to have large Pantechnicans..full of Saw- dust..and then…….. London’s History, is well documented..over the Centuries…Establishment of the Monarchy..puts some order (and Disorder) on things….King William 1st.et al. Yahoo Mail: Search, organise, conquer