The Research Center for Japanese Garden Art and Historical Heritage is pleased to announce the 21th annual English language intensive course in the history, design theory, landscape ecology, artistic sense, and practice of garden making in Japan. We have been running the Seminar successfully for 21 years, and have been joined by more than 464 participants from all over the world – from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Columbia, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Lebanon, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and the United States. The international character of the participants has over the years increasingly stimulated the global character and contents of our teaching, making the Seminar a full and rewarding event for everyone involved, including the staff of the Center. The program is framed within the context of the Graduate School of the Kyoto University of the Arts: there is ample room for an individual learning experience for each participant, while contents are academic at the same time.

The two-week program offers serious students from abroad a number of unique opportunities to study Japanese gardens. Fundamental to the learning experience of the seminar is the site. Apart from on-site lectures in gardens – some not open to the public – the seminar will also include on-site sessions with professional specialists to experience, first hand, the techniques and processes of Japanese garden design and construction. Some days will be divided between site visits and lectures on campus, but there will be several all-day excursions as well. There is a chance for you as a participant to tell us about your experiences, or discuss questions you are facing in a colloquium that is part of the seminar. Plenty of resources (documentations) will be provided by the Center. You have time to visit gardens and sites on your own in and around Kyoto, for which one day in the program is open. At the end of the course a garden building workshop provides an educational experience summarizing your personal learning experience in form of a little garden that you will build yourself under guidance of our staff. In order to provide maximum personal attention, we strive for a group limited to not more than 24 students.

The teachers of seminar will include:

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Application

Please use only the on-line application form on the website. Please do not fax or use postal mail to send in your application form.

Please note:
We will examine your application form to select prospective participants for the seminar. We will inform you of the selection results. The payment method will be informed to those who have been accepted for the seminar.
Applicants from certain countries will be required to have a personal guarantor (from Japan) before they can obtain a visa to enter Japan. Please check with the Japanese consulate in your country to see if a guarantor is required in your case. If a guarantor is required, you must make those arrangements individually, and the Research Center for Japanese Garden Art & Historical Heritage cannot become a personal guarantor for any applicant or offer support in finding guarantors. If you are required to obtain a personal guarantor, please organize those plans before you fill-out the on-line application to join the Seminar.

Cancelation of the Seminar by the Center

Please note that the seminar may be canceled in the following situations:
The final number of applications does not reach the minimal number required for the Center to hold the seminar.
The Center cannot procure the budget necessary to hold the seminar because payment of prospective participants is not received in time.
Natural disaster or any unexpected socially unstable condition.
We will inform you of the seminar’s cancelation no later than August 1, 2026 on this website. If cancelation is decided after the payments are made, the Center will refund all the amounts of payments that have been made before the cancelation notice.

Cancelation by the Prospective Participants

Cancelations by the prospective participants will be handled in the following manner:
50% of the fee will be charged for cancelations made on and after July 25th.
No refund for cancelations made on and after August 25th.
We will deduct the handling fee from the total amount and refund the rest.
The seminar fee cannot be carried over to the next year’s seminar.
We look forward to receiving your application.
Warmest regards,

Takahiro Naka, Director
Research Center for Japanese Garden Art and Historical Heritage

Here is Tentative Schedule

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