TOP Japanese diplomats received a warm welcome to the Wee County during a visit last week.

Diplomats from the Consulate of Japan in Scotland were at the Japanese Garden at Cowden last Thursday, August 11, enjoying a tour on what was Mountain Day in their home country.

Consul General Tadashi Fujiwara and deputy head of the mission Minori Ishii toured the hidden gem Clacks attraction with Ochil and South Perthshire MP John Nicolson.

They were also hosted by Sara Stewart, chair of the garden, who has been the driving force behind the site's restoration.

During the visit, Japan's chief diplomat in Scotland planted a mountain ash sapling with Mr Nicolson and gardeners Connor Robertson from Alloa, Thomas Oneill from Raploch in Stirling and Frazer Leighton from Dollar.

It was a clear and sunny day with temperatures soaring during another heatwave.

The conditions were perfect to mark Mountain Day, a national Japanese holiday providing opportunities to “get familiar with mountains and appreciate blessings from mountains".

Mr Nicolson said: “The governments of Scotland and Japan enjoy warm relations and the two countries have a long shared history.

“So, it was an honour to show the two most senior diplomats of Japan in Scotland one corner of my beautiful constituency.

“The Japanese Garden at Cowden sits at the foot of the magnificent Ochil Hills and what better way to spend Mountain Day than to plant a mountain ash sapling with the Japanese Consul General on such a glorious day.”

The garden, a project which could receive funding as part of the Stirling and Clackmannanshire City Region Deal, was originally established by pioneering Scottish explorer Ella Christie in 1908.

She was the first woman to travel from the West to meet the Dalai Lama and one of the first women to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Geographic Society.

Inspired by her solo travels to Japan, she chose a female designer – the gifted Taki Handa – to create the seven-acre site in the grounds of Cowden Castle.

In doing so, The Japanese Garden at Cowden became the first and only garden of its size and scale to be designed by a woman.

The unique attraction, an authentic bridge between Scottish and Japanese culture, was almost lost forever when it was destroyed by vandals but the restoration has seen the involvement of world-class experts, including the renowned Japanese architect and garden designer Professor Masao Fukuhara.