The IQ Maze – Tokyo

The Japan Topiary Association (JTA) was called in by industry and others to help create a giant ‘IQ Maze’ in Inagi City, Tokyo. The client was TV Asahi Wakabadai Media Centre and the event was inspired by a popular educational TV variety show, Sandwich Man & Mana Ashida’s Doctor, intended to be an empowering experience that will be ‘a turning point in life’, demonstrating how we can all become a ‘doctor ‘of something. The maze which is constructed on concrete with artificial lawn, was created in prefabricated boxes filled with 13,000 liters of soil for 1,680 ‘Ilex crenata ‘Kinnmetsuge’ plants (sometimes known s the ‘Japanese box’) which were finally clipped to a height of 150cm. The maze has proved to be a great success, not least as it has been fun outdoor activity for children through COVID.