A tourism complex in the suburb of Ho Chi Minh City which is modeled after a Japanese garden has recently been open to the public.

Tung Son Thach Hoa Vien, in Hoc Mon suburban district’s Xuan Thoi Dong commune, some 20km from downtown HCMC, is  invested with over VND400 billion (US$19 million).

According to expat Vietnamese entrepreneur Ngo Chanh, CEO of Tung Son Thach Hoa Vien Co., 85% of the ornamental bonsai, fish and stone at the 20,000m2 complex along with its construction and decorative materials are imported from Japan.

The complex boasts up to 4,000 tons of rock, some 200 Koi fish - Japan’s signature ornamental carp, which measure some 0.5m to 1m in length. The garden is also home to some hundreds of bonsais and evergreen trees of various kinds. All of them are imported from the Ehime Prefecture in Japan.

Visitors can also relish in Japanese culinary delights such as Kobe beef, dishes with “ohini” (salt from Fuji mountain) and “mochi” (Japanese rice cake). They can also buy souvenirs imported from Japan as gifts for their relatives and friends when they’re back from their “trips” to Japan.

The 3,000-seat convention halls make the complex ideal for Vietnamese-Japanese cultural events. The place will also provide a new choice for Japanese expats living in Vietnam during Japan’s traditional festivals.

The complex has also been picked as the venue for an international competition on ornamental birds, fish, plants and rock next year, which will be hosted by the Vietnam Association of Ornamental Plants and Animals.

Chanh, who has lived in the Ehime Prefecture for over three decades, spent 25 years working on his dream of building such a Japanese-style garden.

“The garden is expressive of my deep gratitude to my home country and the Ehime Prefecture and will hopefully cement the bonds between people in the two countries,” Chanh shared.

Entrance fees are VND50,000 ($2) for adults and VND20,000 for children.