Brooklyn Botanic Garden is honored to announce that it has received a gift of a mikoshi—a portable shrine—from the Association of Shinto Shrines in Japan (Jinja Honcho), on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of BBG’s iconic Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden. Considered the masterpiece of its creator, landscape designer Takeo Shiota (1881–1943), the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden was the first Japanese garden created in an American public garden and is one of the oldest and most visited Japanese-inspired gardens outside Japan. [Read More]

On March 29, 2016, Brooklyn Botanic Garden was honored to welcome Caroline Kennedy, Ambassador of the United States of America to Japan, and Reiichiro Takahashi, Ambassador and Consul General of Japan in New York, during a visit and ceremonial tree planting in BBG’s Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden. Ambassadors Kennedy and Takahashi, who are serving as honorary co-chairs of BBG’s Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden 100th anniversary year, were joined by BBG board vice-chair Diane Steinberg, BBG president Scot Medbury, and others in planting a Prunus ‘Snow Goose’ within the iconic Japanese garden. [Read More]

The New York City Lunar New Year 2016 “Year of the Monkey Celebration,” a five-day-long festival marking the lunar new year holiday, will be held Feb. 6-10 at iconic locations across the city and headlined by the Fantastic Art China exhibition at Javits Center North (11 Avenue between 39th and 40th Streets). The festival programs, events and activities – all free and open to the public – will not only highlight Chinese arts and culture but also environmental conservation for monkeys in China. Partner organizations include the US-China Cultural Institute, Committee of 100, New York Philharmonic, National Dance Institute, The Nature Conservancy, Columbia University Teachers College, New York School of Interior Design, Museum of Chinese in America, and the China Institute. [Read More]