If you want to get away from it all, you don’t have to go too far, just go to the Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens on Mayor Magrath Drive.
It is an oasis of peace and serenity in the middle of Lethbridge, bordered by the Henderson Lake Golf Course and Henderson Lake and one of the most authentic Japanese gardens in Canada.
“This is one of the most beautiful places in 
Lethbridge and it is right in the middle of Lethbridge. A lot of Lethbridgeites don’t even realize this is here,” said executive director Lindy Rollingson noting the Nikka Yuko Japanese Gardens was recognized as the #21 Japanese Garden out of 320 in North America by Sukiyaki Living magazine and was rated the number two garden in Canada by MSN.
“ So that is pretty special to us,” she continued.
“ It has to be experienced,” she said.
The Nikka Yuko (which stands for the abbreviations of Nihon — the Japanese word for person and KA — Canada while Yuko is the Japanese term for Friendship) was designed as a celebration of Japanese culture.
“A lot of Japanese people came here because Raymond had the biggest Buddhist temple in Alberta, they became businessmen and farmers,” she said.
Every building on the site, which was designed in 1965 and built in 1967 as a Canadian centennial project, was constructed in Japan with Japanese labour and material, disassembled, shipped overseas and rebuilt in Lethbridge by six Japanese carpenters who travelled with the pieces from Japan, overseen by Dr. Mas Sugimoto.
“The tea building is made out of cypress wood, which is very expensive and irreplaceable,” she said adding it is designed with tongue in groove construction which the Japanese incorporate to help minimze buildings’ earthquake damage.
She noted the gardens attracted 22,000 visitors last year and 2,200 students visiting on tours which they don’t charge for. They have over 100 volunteers to help keep things running smoothly.
“We couldn’t run the Gardens without them. They are really great people,” she said.
Each rock was chosen for shape, size and smoothness and painstakingly assembled into the Miso beaches. The trees are meticulously pruned and the seven waterfalls are carefully constructed. Fresh water is pumped in, so it isn’t connected to Henderson Lake.
They open every year on Mother’s Day and close for winter every Thanksgiving, as the trees are all lovingly wrapped and cared for.
They are ready to beginning a variety of programming this month.
If you are interested in the pruning, they are bringing in a master pruner Masa Mizuno from Portland to give a demonstration on June 16.
They also have special programming for children every weekend and on Monday long weekends.
“We have everything from origami to kite -making and tea ceremonies every two weeks. The next ones are on June 8 and July 1,” Rollingson summarized.
They are also having movie screenings periodically.
The next film to be featured will be “Miyazaki's Spirited Away,” a Walt Disney, Japanese animated film which will be shown at dusk around 9 p.m., Saturday, June 14.
Canada Day celebrations are an always popular event at t
he Gardens, though, it is not a free event. It will include a karate demonstration, tea ceremony and Taiko drumming beginning at noon. Also on July 1, they will open an exhibit of 12 prints created by artist Hiroshi Shimazaki featuring scenes in Japan along the Shikoku Pilgrimage.
the other big event this season is the 47th anniversary celebrations, July 12 which will feature a variety of different events including a Japanese sword demonstration, bonsai, taiko drumming, a Japanese karaoke evening followed by their moonlit movie from 9-11 p.m.
“ But we’re already preparing for our fiftieth anniversary,” she said.
other interesting events include an evening of Japanese ghost stories on Aug 2, and their big summer celebration on Aug. 16.
