After months of fund-raising and planning, the building of Nitobe Garden at Royal Jubilee Hospital was in full swing. In the final hours before opening, City of Victoria work crews filled in the garden with extra plants and foliage. Amidst the Victoria Day weekend celebrations around the city, last minute touches completed the garden in time for the opening ceremony.
The official opening of the Dr. Inazo Nitobe Memorial Garden took place May 24, 2005. Hundreds of people from Victoria and Morioka gathered to rededicate the stone monument at RJH that marks the site where Nitobe died in 1933. The event capped 20th anniversary twin-city celebrations between Victoria and Morioka who were first officially joined in May, 1985.
Opening of the Nitobe Garden received extensive local print, cable and TV media coverage. Dressed in a traditional Japanese "happy coat", Takashi Fujimura unveiled the centrepiece stone monument to Nitobe. Years before, Fujimura's grandfather had been Nitobe's personal gardner in charge of the grounds at the Nitobe home in Morioka, Japan.
Volunteers provide care and maintenance for Nitobe Memorial Garden under the direction of VMFS Vice-President, Paul Allison. As a result, RJH patients, their families and the visiting public have a wonderful Japanese garden to inspire them to better health. The garden also provided a backdrop for the marriage of Takashi Fujimura's son, Naoki who worked to create the garden with his father.
