The Japanese Garden Community Day

The event was a great showcase of Japanese culture including Wadaiko. 1/800s 105mm F1.4 ISO 125.

I am standing in Hammersmith Park, located in London’s Zone 2. Though it’s hard to believe looking around, a little over a century ago this site sat on the very outskirts of the city as flat arable farmland. The name White City comes from the large exhibition complex built here for the 1908 Olympic Games, and it was subsequently used for international exhibitions including the 1910 Japan-British Exhibition.  It was for that reason that the Japanese Garden I am surrounded by was built, and it rone of the last remaining remnants of the Great White City. The large wooden gate (Chokushimon) built for the exhibition also still exists but can now be found at Kew Gardens.

The Japanese Garden at Hammersmith Park has been here for more than a century. 1/1250s 105mm F1.4 ISO 100.

The garden has seen renovations in the past decade to help bring it back to its former glory. 1/1600s 105mm F1.4 ISO 125.

Lanterns were hung from the trees as part of the event. The Kanji is ‘Matsuri’ which means festival in Japanese. 1/1250s 105mm F1.4 ISO 100.

To celebrate the improvement works carried out in 2018 (which included the additions of 20 stone lanterns and a wooden gate) the Japan Society organised the first Japanese Garden Community Day and has subsequently hosted one ever since (let’s just ignore Covid). Supported by the Embassy of Japan, it is a great showcase of Japanese culture that allows both enthusiasts and unexpecting locals to get a taste of something that is otherwise many thousands of miles removed.

The Wadaiko drummers put in an energetic performance to entertain the crowds. 1/1250s 105mm F1.4 ISO 400.

The big drum really was big. 1/800s 58mm F1.4 ISO 64.

Crowds gathered every time a performance was on. 1/800s 105mm F1.4 ISO 125.

The Wadaiko (Japanese drums) took centre stage. It’s impossible to ignore the booming sound and the visual spectacle of the kimono wearing performers. Such a thing would be seen during major festivals in Japan, but obviously being a rarity in the UK, this was the first time that I had witnessed it. They performed several times throughout the day, taking well-earned breaks in-between sessions. After the final one they allowed members of the public, such as myself, to have a go at beating the drums and it was a great deal of fun, though I am sure my technique was not very good. They all seem to have very straight arms when performing and definitely a much better sense of rhythm.

There was plenty of time for socalising, whether it’s meeting new people or catching up with old friends. 1/1000s 105mm F1.4 ISO 125.

There were other small music performances that weren’t to be missed. 1/8000s 58mm F1.4 ISO 64.

Under expert tuition you could try your hand at calligraphy. 1/800s 58mm F1.4 ISO 64.

Handing my camera off to my girlfriend, I had my first go at writing Kanji with brush and ink. I wrote ‘Eikoku’ which is the old Japanese name for Great Britain. 1/800s 58mm F1.4 ISO 64.

Origami was popular with children, with the table seemingly always full with activity. 1/1600s 105mm F1.4 ISO 64.

The drums weren’t the only thing you could try; the popular and well-known activities of calligraphy and origami were also available and with knowledgeable people on hand to give help and advice to the inexperienced. This was also my first-time trying calligraphy with brush and ink and whilst some Kanji looked reasonably legible, I was not so convinced by all my efforts. Unsurprisingly my Japanese girlfriend was slightly better (to put it mildly), but I look forward to trying it again in the future. I haven’t spent a lot of time learning to handwrite Kanji but there is great satisfaction here that is absent from simple pen (or pencil) and paper. I didn’t try my hand at origami in the end, but that did seem aimed more at children.

Japanese Café an-an had a stall before their annual summer break. They proved to be very popular and sold out within a few hours. 1/1000s 58mm F1.4 ISO 64.

It wasn’t just edible things for sale. 1/1250s 58mm F1.4 ISO 64.

I managed to catch this fun moment during a quiet part of the day. 1/1000s 105mm F1.4 ISO 160.

Naturally there were also several stands that sold Japanese snacks and drinks, including a stand from Japanese Café an-an, who are based in Brighton, who’s freshly made Wagashi were a hit with attendees. Yet another first for me, but sadly I just missed out on getting the last strawberry one. It’s always a challenge for these vendors to know how much to bring, but as the returning summer sun had brought out a lot of people, they sold out very quickly. It’ll be my first port of call next year.

The Japanese Garden Society were a nice addition that offered a lot of interesting history on White City itself. 1/800s 105mm F1.4 ISO 125.

Visitors could play around with miniature Japanese Gardens. 1/800s 105mm F1.4 ISO 125.

The wooden gate that was installed as part of the renovations in 2018. 1/4000s 58mm F1.4 ISO 64.

Twenty stone lanterns were also added to the garden. 1/4000s 58mm F1.4 ISO 64.

Beyond food there were a couple of other stalls that sold non-edible things and then there were the stalls for both the Japan Society and the Japanese Garden Society. The latter had a good deal of information about the history of White City that I found very interesting. All-in-all it was a really good event, and we were fortunate with the weather, the day before had been very wet. If you are a Japanophile or even just someone who lives nearby, then I do thoroughly recommend attending next year. Hopefully there will be even more food and activities, there’s definitely room to scale up and it would be great to showcase even more of Japan’s fascinating and exciting culture.

After the final performance Nanako has a lot of fun trying the Wadaiko. 1/640s 105mm F1.4 ISO 400.

Handing the camera to her again, I have my turn. I look a lot more serious! 1/640s 105mm F1.4 ISO 320.

The Japan Society had their own stand to raise awareness of the organisation and to reach out to people who may be interested in joining. 1/800s 105mm F1.4 ISO 160.

Of course in the meantime you can get involved by signing up to the Japan Society, which you can find out more about by clicking here. Their next event is their biggest of the year. Their annual Matsuri which will be Sunday 1st October, provisionally at Trafalgar Square. I hope to see you there.

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