“Born out of a hope that the experience of peace can contribute to a long-lasting peace.”
Sited on a forested hillside in Washington Park, overlooking the city, Oregon’s Portland Japanese Garden exemplifies the power a garden can have in shaping a city’s identity while providing a tangible link between cultures.
It is a place to “let go of worldly thoughts and see oneself as a small but integral part of the universe.”
Conceived in the 1950’s as a byproduct of the growing cultural ties between the city and Japan, the garden afforded an opportunity to strengthen connections following World War II while providing the citizens of the city with a place of serenity, beauty, and healing.
Within, visitors could experience firsthand Japanese ideals and values through nature.
Portland is a “sister city” with Sapporo, Japan. Sister Cities International was created in 1956 by President Eisenhower to create global relationships based on cultural, educational, information and trade exchanges to foster lifelong relationships and peace through “citizen diplomacy.”
Like many civic projects, it took many years for the garden to become a reality. It was dedicated in 1961, designed in 1963, by Professor Takuma Tono of the Tokyo University of Agriculture, and opened to the public in 1967.
In 1968, the Kashintei Tea House, constructed in Japan, was installed in the garden. The Pavilion Gallery, included in Professor Tono’s original plan, was completed in 1980 and dedicated on May 18 – the same day that Mount St. Helens erupted.
Unlike most Japanese gardens that concentrate on a single style, the twelve-acre Portland Japanese Garden includes eight distinct gardens, each representing historical developments in Japanese garden architecture.
Three primary elements are used in the design of Japanese gardens; stone, the “bones’ of the landscape; water, the life-giving force; and plants, which change with the seasons.
When I visited in mid-July, the garden was not in bloom but instead a shaded tapestry of green.
In April 2017, the Garden opened the Cultural Village. The $33.5 million project includes three LEED-certified structures, designed by architect Kengo Kuma to fit harmoniously within the surrounding landscape.
The Village includes a Japanese Arts Learning Center, Garden House, Cafe and the Tateuchi courtyard, where a 185-ft-long castle wall, traditionally built by a 15th-generation Japanese master stonemason, is sited.
The Cultural Village enabled the garden to expand its mission to provide enhanced programming, including the International Japanese Garden Training Center to explore how human culture and nature meet and to study Japanese garden design. The garden’s curator, Sadafumi Uchiyama and training center’s director, Kristin Faurest, discuss its evolution in a recent The Cultural Landscape Foundation Stewardship Story.
The only such program in the world outside of Japan, the center teaches traditional skills and techniques for creating and maintaining a Japanese Garden. Applications are being accepted for the 2019 intensive design seminar, offered from October 22 – 24th.
The Portland Japanese Garden was described as “one of the most beautiful and authentic Japanese gardens in the world outside of Japan” by His Excellency Nobuo Matsunga, the former Ambassador of Japan to the United States. The garden supports one of the foremost Japanese cultural organizations in North America and vibrant educational programming. Haiku Alive, offered to elementary school students, uses poetry to connect children to the natural world.
Described as a haven of tranquil beauty in all four seasons, the garden is owned and operated by a private non-profit organization that leases the site from the city. Integrating culture, nature and architecture, the garden changes with each seasonal cycle, inviting the visitor to accept the constancy of change.
Perhaps it was the time of year that I visited, when the garden is enveloped in subtle shades of green, that focused my attention on its details, connections between the natural and man-made. These intimate gestures elevate the craft of garden making into something that is both mysterious and tangible.
“The garden is a good companion.”
— Sadafumi Uchiyama, Garden Curator
The Portland Japanese Garden’s website proclaims that the garden is, “Born out of a hope that the experience of peace can contribute to a long-lasting peace. Born out of a belief in the power of cultural exchange. Born out of a belief in the excellence of craft. The Portland Japanese Garden is a place to let go of worldly thoughts and see oneself as a small but integral part of the universe.”
To experience a day at the garden visit: https://japanesegarden.org/a-day-at-the-garden/.
Copyright © 2019 Patrice Todisco — All Rights Reserved
