Mayor of Yokohama visits Japanese garden

 SAYLI UDAS

YOKOHAMA mayor Hiroshi Nakada visited the Central Mumbaibased Byculla zoo on
Wednesday afternoon. He surveyed the 'Japanese garden'-spread over 52 acre
of land-which was gifted by the former mayor of Yokohama.

In 1986, Yokohama's then mayor, Michikazu Saigo, had gifted the garden to
Mumbai. The Japanese delegation had flown over 50 gardeners from Japan to
design the green patch. In turn, Indian counterpart, the then mayor Chhagan
Bhujbal, presented two baby elephants to the visiting delegation.

Nakada elaborated on the long standing ties between the two cities as a part
of the sister city exchange programme. "Mumbai and Yokohama have shared a
relationship spread over 35 years and we look ahead at improving our trade
ties and rapport in the years to come," he Nakada.

Urban planners always equate Mumbai with Yokohama and consider them twin
cities, because economically they have developed in a similar fashion.
Although Yokohama has a population of almost 38 lakh, Mumbai has strength of
over 10 million.

In a lighter mood, Nakada remarked that he tried to catch the attention of
red crown cranes, Japan's national bird, in Japanese but the birds failed to
respond.

"The cranes did not understand my cry and I suspect they have swapped
nationality. Back home, your elephants are hale and hearty and have started
their own family," said Nakada.
On entering the garden, Nakada on a more sentimental note, exclaimed that he
almost felt like he was home.

Nakada's native city is home to about three zoos, where authorities have
shunned enclosures for animals, instead house them on open plots of land.
The Mumbai is keen to replicate the same, with the Central Zoo authority
making it mandatory to have open zoos.


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