Sankei-En

Kenroku-en, Kōraku-en, and Ritsurin are well-known, celebrated Japanese gardens. Everyone who visits Kanazawa, Okayama, and Takamatsu should be sure to see them. Not known to most people is Sankei-en, an unexpectedly large garden right beside Hiroshima Airport. It’s the only traditional Japanese garden with a control tower, and it compares unexpectedly well with its older, more famous rivals.

While most airports devote every available metre to runways, car parks, and terminals, Hiroshima’s was conceived as a broader regional development project. When the airport opened in 1993, it was accompanied by parks, forests, sports facilities, and this garden, intended to introduce visitors to the landscapes of Hiroshima Prefecture.

The layout covers a terraced slope and is divided into three distinct zones representing the mountains, rural villages, and coastline of Hiroshima Prefecture, giving the site its name, “Garden of Three Views”. The highest section imitates the inland Chūgoku mountains using dense evergreen trees and jagged rockeries. A dramatic waterfall drops through a gorge forested with maple trees.

As you descend the slope into the middle village zone, earthen tracks and uneven stone steps wind through a plum grove and a bamboo forest. Here, the garden resembles rice paddy landscapes. A large covered wooden bridge crosses an expanse of water. The soil and rock excavated to flatten the adjacent runway were repurposed to form these hills and slopes.

At the bottom of the valley, the lowest zone features a broad central pond patterned after the islands of the Seto Inland Sea. Stepping stones, arched granite bridges, and timber decks connect a series of small islands, while hundreds of colourful carp swim in the shallows. A flat-bottomed wooden boat sits moored near the main pavilion, referencing the ferries used on the inland waters. A marsh area at the edge of the pond contains thousands of irises that bloom during the early summer rain.

For travellers with time before a flight, Sankei-en offers a far more pleasant way to spend an hour or so than waiting in the departure lounge. The garden is also worth visiting in its own right, particularly in spring and autumn, when flowers and foliage bring colour to the landscape.