Photo/Illutration The snow-blanketed Dry Landscape Garden of the Adachi Museum of Art in Yasugi, Shimane Prefecture (Provided by the Adachi Museum of Art)

YASUGI, Shimane Prefecture--Even for a year as tumultuous as 2020, Japan’s top garden remained as serene and breathtaking as ever.

The Adachi Museum of Art marked the 18th year straight in which its well-groomed, vibrant garden was rated as Japan's best by the Journal of Japanese Gardening, a U.S. publication.

"We are in hard times, but that is all the more reason for us to approach things in a positive manner and do our best to satisfy visitors," museum director Takanori Adachi said in a statement, referring to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. "We are in a difficult time where we can't go to places as we please. But we hope that the situation is contained as early as possible so the beauty of Japan's top garden can be enjoyed by as many people as possible."

The museum also celebrated its 50th anniversary last year. Although the garden was designed by a famous gardener, museum founder Zenko Adachi added arrangements of his own to spruce things up even more.

The kempt, picturesque garden encompasses roughly 170,000 square meters and consists of six areas, including the Dry Landscape Garden, the Moss Garden and the White Gravel and Pine Garden.

The garden boasts a variety of trees and flowers, including some 800 red pines, and 80 black pines, “satsuki” and “tsutsuji” azaleas and maples.

Seven gardeners maintain the grounds, while about 50 staff members clean the site every morning, year-round.

The Journal of Japanese Gardening, also known as Sukiya Living Magazine, was founded by Douglas Roth in 1998 to introduce Japanese gardens to the world. Launched in 2003, the rankings are determined by gardening experts and cover 1,000 Japanese gardens around the world. The magazine features the top 50 gardens every year.

The Katsura Imperial Villa in Kyoto Prefecture ranked second in its list.

Six other gardens in Shimane Prefecture also ranked among the top 50 in Japan, including Minamikan ryokan, which netted third place; the Yushien garden, which ranked 25th on the list; Yunosuke's Hotel Chorakuen in Matsue, which came in 26th; and Kokokuji temple in Izumo, ranking 27th.

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