Visit an unusual garden in Western Australia. It's designed to be relaxing and make you feel calm.


NEVILLE PASSMORE: This garden is a gift to the people of Western Australia from a sister state, the Hyogo prefecture of Central Japan, and it reflects a journey from WA across the oceans, to the sandy beaches, lowland lakes and mountains of Japan.

These stepping-stones are uneven and they don't run in a straight line. If you attempted to rush through this garden, chances are you'd trip over.

Everything is designed to slow you down, to make you look at your feet, and then the way ahead. Even this bridge takes off at different angles.

Each stop reveals a different view and perspective of the garden. Because you're forced to concentrate on every step, it takes your mind away from the tiff that you might have had with your wife, or the woes of the office. In this way, it can calm the mind and create a quiet, meditative state.

Behind me is something that's unique to Australia, and for me, it's one of the outstanding features of this garden. This is a water hollow harp. In Japanese it's called Suikinkutsu. Because all the works are below the ground you might find it a bit difficult to get excited about it. But just listen to this.

Eiji Morozumi is a landscape designer and contractor and he not only refurbished these gardens at Perth zoo but constructed the Suikinkutsu to a design provided by the Prefecture of Hyogo.

What's the origin of the suikinkutsu?

EIJI MOROZUMI: It started two hundred years ago and went, kind of, boom. Then went, sort of, dead. So these days very rare to even see these suikinkutsu in Japan.

NEVILLE PASSMORE: So does a Japanese garden like this have relevance for Australia? Well I certainly think we could enjoy the timelessness as well as the calm, contemplative atmosphere at the beginning or the end of our day. And you know, there's nothing like the sound of water to wash away conflicts and cares.