The project examined possible interpretations of the idea of the Japanese garden in the Chilean context, understanding it as a place charged with meanings and references through the construction of a landscape that negotiates what is understood as Japan and the Japanese.

Across Chile there are at least five public Japanese gardens, with two main origins. Some were created as gifts from the Japanese government in gratitude to Chile for welcoming its community after the Second World War, as in the cases of the Japanese gardens in Constitución and on Santa Lucía and San Cristóbal hills in Santiago. Others were donated to the community by mining companies, such as the Japanese Park in Antofagasta and Kokoro No Niwa in La Serena.

In the private sphere, the Chilean-Japanese landscape designer Luis Nakagawa Owada (1935–1977) stands out as a key figure in the development of Japanese-style gardens in eastern Santiago. His legacy persists in remarkably well-preserved examples, such as the garden of the Museo de la Moda in Vitacura and the garden of Colegio San Ignacio in Providencia.

The outcome of the research was a series of audiovisual capsules, available here.