Cowra Japanese GardensPrint Page

The Cowra Japanese Gardens were built as a token of friendship and in commemoration of the Cowra Breakout.

In the early 1970s, the Cowra Tourism Board was looking for a fitting memorial to the Cowra Breakout to complement the Prisoner of War (POW) and Japanese War Cemeteries. A replica machine gun tower was suggested but then firmly rejected; a recreation of the breakout was also floated then turned down, until a glance at one of Cowra`s parks planted the idea of building a Japanese garden in Cowra. They employed the help of Japanese landscape designer, Ken Nakijima to design not only a Japanese garden, but a horticultural map of Japan and a spiritual resting place for the Japanese soldiers held in Cowra after World War Two.

The Australian casualties of the Cowra breakout are also not forgotten within the Cowra Japanese Garden. Ken Nakijima deliberately left gum trees standing in the design of the garden. The grove of gum trees at the top of the hill in the garden represents the Australian soldiers who were killed, allowing both the spirits of the Australians and the Japanese to live there.

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Dedication