was an important

landscape architect A landscape architect is a person who is educated in the field of landscape architecture. The practice of landscape architecture includes: site analysis, site inventory, site planning, land planning, planting design, grading, storm water manageme ...

and designer of

Japanese gardens are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...

. Outside Japan, he designed the

Montreal Botanical Garden The Montreal Botanical Garden (french: link=no, Jardin botanique de Montréal) is a large botanical garden in Montreal, Quebec, Canada comprising of thematic gardens and greenhouses. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 2008 ...

, the

Cowra Japanese Garden and Cultural Centre The Cowra Japanese Garden and Cultural Centre is located in the town of Cowra, in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. The garden was established to recognize and develop the historic and ongoing relationship between the peo ...

in Australia, the Japanese Garden in

Hermann Park Hermann Park is a urban park in Houston, Texas, situated at the southern end of the Museum District. The park is located immediately north of the Texas Medical Center and Brays Bayou, east of Rice University, and slightly west of the Third ...

in Houston, Texas, the Japanese Garden at the

Moscow Botanical Garden of Academy of Sciences The Tsitsin Main Moscow Botanical Garden of Academy of Sciences was founded in April 1945, and claims itself to be the largest botanical garden in Europe. It covers a territory of approximately 3.61 km², bordering the VDNKH Exhibition Cent ...

and the Setagaya Parc in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

. Born in Japan in 1914, Takeshi "Ken" Nakajima graduated from the

Tokyo University of Agriculture The , abbreviated as Nodai (農大, ''nōdai'') or Tokyo nodai (東京農大, ''Tōkyō nōdai''), is a private university of agriculture in Japan. There are three campuses: Setagaya, Atsugi, and Okhotsk (Abashiri). Outline Tokyo University ...

in 1937, where he later became a faculty member. In 1957, he started his own company called Consolidated Garden Research, based in Tokyo. In 1986,

Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

, the

Emperor of Japan The Emperor of Japan is the monarch and the head of the Imperial House of Japan, Imperial Family of Japan. Under the Constitution of Japan, he is defined as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, and his positio ...

, awarded him the

Order of the Rising Sun The is a Japanese order, established in 1875 by Emperor Meiji. The Order was the first national decoration awarded by the Japanese government, created on 10 April 1875 by decree of the Council of State. The badge features rays of sunlight ...

, Gold and Silver Ray, for promoting Japanese culture worldwide. Mr. Nakajima died on November 29, 2000, and the company he created passed to his son Hiro. Ken Nakajima Place, Cowra NSW is named for him.

References

1914 births 2000 deaths Artists from Tokyo Landscape and garden designers Japanese landscape architects {{Japan-bio-stub