The Japanese garden designer on Chelsea Flower Show nerves, and how coming from a city synonymous with war shaped his love of peaceful nature
WORDS PAULA McWATERS PORTRAIT NORI EDAMATSU
All show garden designers express their delight at winning a Gold medal at Chelsea, but few exhibit such unrestrained jubilation as Japanese designer Kazuyuki Ishihara, as he literally jumps for joy on medals day. Instantly recognisable for his broad smile, dapper suits and designer glasses, his happiness is infectious whenever he and his team celebrate another top accolade.
Kazuyuki made his first appearance at Chelsea 20 years ago, with a show garden called Gen, or Source, for which he won a Silver Gilt medal. Since then he has exhibited a further 14 times, notching up 12 coveted Gold medals and four Best in Show awards. HM Queen Elizabeth II – who Kazuyuki met at Chelsea many times – is said to have called him “the green magician”.
All his gardens are created with utmost precision and even the back – unseen by visitors – is as immaculately finished as the visible areas, with never a leaf out of place. Quintessentially Japanese in style, his gardens are exquisite and serene. Acers always feature, along with irises, calming water, artfully placed stone and a preponderance of moss. Kazuyuki recalls how the judges took some convincing with regard to the virtues of moss as an acceptable garden feature in the early days, but now it seems we have all been won over.
Chelsea means the world to Kazuyuki and it is one of the absolute highlights of his year. “I always get anxious; no matter how many times I exhibit. The Gold medal is the prize.” Although stressful, he finds the judging process invaluable. “The judges point out what might be wrong with my garden and I learn to improve next time. It becomes the driving force for gardening. Exhibiting in another country is difficult. It is essential to travel over with my own team of trusted craftsmen but I can’t bring the Japanese plants that I would usually use; I have to source plants in the UK. A huge amount of money has to be raised each year but nevertheless, Chelsea is a dream I keep on dreaming.”
Kazuyuki’s passion for the natural world began in childhood. He was born in Nagasaki in 1958, a second-generation atomic bomb survivor, growing up just three miles from the hypocentre, where his father created terraced rice fields to help feed the surviving members of the Ishihara family. “We were self-sufficient in fruit and vegetables, and
