Photo/Illutration The White Gravel and Pine Garden of the Adachi Museum of Art in Yasugi, Shimane Prefecture (Provided by the Adachi Museum of Art)

YASUGI, Shimane Prefecture--The accolades continue growing for the sprawling gardens at the Adachi Museum of Art here, which were rated as Japan's best for the 21st consecutive year by the U.S.-based Journal of Japanese Gardening in 2023.

The publication, also known as Sukiya Living Magazine, has ranked the museum's gardens as the most splendid since 2003 when it launched the rankings covering 1,000 Japanese gardens in the country.

The rankings are determined by a committee comprising about 30 gardening experts from around the world.

The basic garden arrangement was laid out by museum founder and local businessman Zenko Adachi, who had sought to create an ideal Japanese garden.

Consisting of the Dry Landscape Garden, the Moss Garden, the White Gravel and Pine Garden and other areas, the gardens encompass roughly 165,000 square meters, including a mountain range that stands in the background to serve as "shakkei" borrowed scenery.

The well-tended gardens are open to the public 365 days a year.

"We will continue to maintain and manage the gardens with all staff members working as a team, without being overconfident, to make visitors impressed," museum director Takanori Adachi said in a statement.

The Katsura Imperial Villa in Kyoto ranked second in the list, followed by the Yamamoto-tei house in Tokyo's Katsushika Ward in third place.

Other gardens in the Sanin region that ranked among the top 50 in Japan were Minamikan ryokan in Matsue (4th); the Yushien garden also in the Shimane prefectural capital (21st); Kokokuji temple in Izumo, Shimane Prefecture (30th); and Yunosuke’s Hotel Chorakuen in Matsue (31st).

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