| The Omoro Botanical Garden (おもろ植物園, Omoro Shokubutsuen, 4 hectares), also known as the Omoro Arboretum, is an arboretum and botanical garden located in the Ocean Expo Park, 424 Ishikawa, Motobu, Okinawa, Japan. It is open daily except Thursdays; admission is free. This facility was opened in 1980 to commemorate the Okinawa International Ocean Exposition. At a 2003 press conference, Emperor Akihito suggested the garden serve as a parallel to Japan's Manyo botanical gardens, which feature plants appearing in the Man'yōshū anthology (much like a Shakespeare garden in the English-speaking world). Accordingly, this garden collects plants that are described in the Omoro Sōshi (おもろそうし), a collection of Okinawan poems and songs. |
