The new Japanese Garden building built in Jim Hadgkiss Park will be named the Ichigo Garden, in honour of the strawberry farmers that helped build Maple Ridge.
Maple Ridge city council honoured the naming request from the Vancouver Japanese Gardeners Association (VJGA).
That group worked with the city on the project. It explained the concept of this garden commemorates the early Japanese settlers and the community of the Nokai (farmers’ association) that once resided in Maple Ridge and along the Fraser River, dating back to the 1900s. At that time, one of the main fruit crops that was farmed by Japanese Canadians was strawberries.
In Japanese strawberries are called “ichigo.” This word in Japanese also has a homonym with the meaning, “one chance.” In Japanese, there is a phrase,“ichi-go, ichi-e,” which means, “to treasure a once-in-a-lifetime encounter.”
This garden is created with this concept in mind, and carefully designed to recognize the importance of an encounter, said the VJGA in a report to council, adding: “From encounters of new friendships, and bonds of trust and respect, the VJGA values the limitless potential the Ichigo Garden possesses.”
The city received $910,000 via two grants from the Japanese Canadian Legacies Society to build the new garden at the site of the Maple Ridge Museum (22520 116 Ave.).