PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A traditional Japanese house and garden in West Fairmount Park has reopened this weekend with springtime programming both in person and virtually.
If you tap your shoe on a stone around the pond and call out for the koi fish, they will most likely come. It couldn't hurt to throw them koi food too.
"Once you get their attention with a little clapping or calling, they come swimming," said Kim Andrews, executive director of Japan America Society of Greater Philadelphia. The nonprofit operates the Shofuso House and Garden.
New this year to visitors is a pebble beach along the pond. It's based on a newly discovered 1957 drawing made by Shofuso's original garden designer.
"When we dug it up, it was different from the other plans," revealed Andrews. "I had never seen it. I had been through the archives many times. So this was an undiscovered gem that really was able to help us take our historic landscape and add another degree of authenticity."
Cherry blossom season will start in a couple of weeks and there are a number of varieties of the trees around Shofuso and throughout the city. You can pick up a map for a socially distanced self-guided tour.
There are other springtime programs and events in person and online, including a virtual 10k run. More information on events and programs can be found at JASGP's website.