Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford, Winnebago County, United States | Garden | Japanese Gardens

Welcome to Anderson Japanese Gardens in Rockford, Illinois, United States, offering visitors a place of peace and tranquility where they will find healing, renewal, inspiration and a re-energized soul.
Anderson Japanese Gardens consists of two very different gardens. The first is a formal Japanese garden in the style of the Kamakura period, 1185 to 1333 A.D. The Guest House, Teahouse, and machiai are 16th century Sukiya style architecture. The Garden of Reflection is a contemporary international garden with a strong Japanese influence. The gardens are designed to allow our guests to reflect upon the tranquil beauty of nature, to leave the stresses of everyday life, to commune with nature and thus with one's self. The three essential elements of a Japanese garden are: water for its soothing and reflective qualities, rock for its sense of permanence; and plants for their textures and shades of green.
The inspiration for Anderson Japanese Gardens started in 1966 during John Anderson?s first trip to Japan. There he met a family friend, Mr. Akira Ohno, President of Morinaga Milk Industries of Tokyo, who gave him an in-depth look at the Japanese people and their culture. When the land was acquired for a new home site, John and Linda Anderson realized that the property had the potential to be an excellent setting for a Japanese garden. With the Andersons? strong interest in Japanese culture, they decided to start development of a Japanese-style garden in Rockford, Illinois.