Two perfectly geometric hills rise from the pancake-flat landscape, trees planted in rows form a circular copse, while a glass and steel pyramid looms nearby and three huge stainless steel columns point out of the ground like the antenna of a giant subterranean satellite dish.
Seen from above the layout is less recognizable as a park and more akin to the ancient line drawings in the Peruvian Nazca desert.
And all this built on top of a former sewage works.
As far as municipal parks go, it might be one of the world’s most understated yet intriguing — a fusion of classic Japanese principles of quiet, natural beauty with 20th-century modernist art.
It was the final act of Japanese-American sculptor Isuma Noguchi whose career spanned seven decades — much of it spent fusing art, architecture and public spaces.
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On his respect for nature and his own modern ethos Noguchi said: “The art of stone in a Japanese garden is that of placement. Its ideal does not deviate from that of nature … But I am also a sculptor of the West. I place my mark and do not hide.”
Despite his work appearing in 17 cities across the United States and around the world, Dixon believes Noguchi is appreciated more in Japan than in the United States, citing hundreds of thousands of visitors to an exhibition of his work just 10 years ago in Yokohama.
“I think in Japan he’s seen much more as a hero,” she says.
Moerenuma Park, Moerenuma-koen 1-1, Higashi-ku, Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan; daily 7 a.m.-10 p.m. (entrance closed at 9 p.m.)
