Kusatsu Aquatic Botanical Garden Mizunomori: An Overview
A world of lotuses and water lilies
Kusatsu Aquatic Botanical Garden Mizunomori opened in 1996. It sits on the southeastern shore of Lake Biwa on a small peninsula it shares with the Lake Biwa Museum, a natural history museum that opened at the same time. The botanical garden’s principal feature is one of Japan’s largest collections of lotus plants (hasu) and water lilies (suiren). This focus derives from the presence of a 13-hectare lotus patch that flourished in the lake next to the facility until 2016, when it mysteriously vanished.
Mizunomori, as the garden is commonly known, attracts over 100,000 visitors per year. It is busiest in June and July, when the lotuses and water lilies are in flower, though there are aquatic plants to see all year round. The botanical garden has 150 varieties of water lilies, both temperate and tropical, and 100 varieties of lotus, an iconic flower in Japan. A visit to Mizunomori presents a great opportunity to get to know this flower, which occupies a significant place in Japanese culture.
The facility consists of one large building, the Lotus Pavilion, and the surrounding ponds and gardens. The pavilion houses several attractions: a theater that shows a 15-minute video on lotuses and water lilies; exhibits on the lotus’s significance in science and culture; a greenhouse where tropical water lilies bloom year-round; an outdoor terrace with a small lotus pond attached; and a cafeteria with panoramic views over the garden and lake.
The outdoor section of the museum features multiple gardens. Seasonal flowers are displayed in the Community Square outside the Lotus Pavilion. The Teaching Garden has two long tanks full of lotus flowers. Hanakage Pond is a water lily pond inspired by the garden of Impressionist painter Claude Monet (1840–1926) at Giverny in France. The Wetland Garden highlights Japanese irises and autumnal grasses, while the Volunteer Garden, which is cultivated by volunteer amateur gardeners, is closer to a typical English garden.
Visitors should plan on spending at least one to one-and-a-half hours to see everything at Mizunomori. Access is either by car or by bus from the west exit of JR Kusatsu Station.