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| seattle japanese garden legacy |
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Legacy of the Japanese Garden of Seattle:
Past, Present and Future (excerpt)
By Koichi Kobayashi, Affiliate Professor, University of Washington
Kobayashi & Associates, Inc.
A highly regarded, peaceful sanctuary tucked into the University
of Washington’s Arboretum, the Seattle Japanese Garden is one of
the finest Japanese gardens to be constructed outside Japan.
Rated among the top ten most favorite Japanese Gardens in the
United States by a garden journal, the Seattle Japanese Garden is
an extremely popular destination for locals and visitors alike in the
Puget Sound area, and rivals the famous Japanese Gardens of
Portland and San Francisco.
The three and a half-acre garden contains the features of stroll-
through gardens of the formal (shin-style) type, built during the
Momoyama Period (late 16th century) and early Edo period (early
17th century). The stroll garden style aims to create the illusion
of several landscapes within a garden, which reveal, suggest and
disappear along a path.
Kiyoshi Inoshita, one of the garden’s initial designers, describes his
design intent:
In historical documents written by the initial designers, no
references are made to other gardens that could have influenced
the design of the Seattle Japanese Garden. However Professor
Makoto Suzuki of Tokyo Agricultural University has started
researching the possible influence of the Horai En Garden, which
existed at the site of the Matsuura Clan Family residence in Tokyo,
and was built in the Edo period, as well as
the Katsura Imperial Village in Kyoto.
History
The initial movement to create a Japanese Garden in Seattle began
in 1909, when the Alaska Yukon Exhibition was held. A Japanese
Pavilion with an accompanying garden was built for the fair, which
ignited regional interest in and excitement about Japanese gardens.
In 1924, the Olmstead Brothers designed the University of
Washington Arboretum, and by 1937, officials agreed that the
Arboretum needed a Japanese Garden. The realization of the
garden, however, had to wait till the end of the World War II,
when racial and political tensions eased.
It wasn’t until 1957 that The Arboretum Foundation began raising
funds for the creation of the Japanese Garden. The Foundation
asked Tatsuo Moriwaki of Tokyo Metro Parks to help guide the
process. He selected Kiyoshi Inoshita and Juki Iida to design the
project.
The design was completed in 1959. Under the supervision of Juki
Iida and Nobumasa Kitamura, construction began in March 1960
and was completed on an accelerated schedule within four
months. Juki Iida personally scouted and selected 580 large
granite rocks (some of them boulders) from the nearby
Snoqualami Pass to insert in the garden. Since the construction of
the garden was originally envisioned to require three years, the
execution required a number of revisions and changes in design
throughout the garden. The construction was done mostly by
local Japanese-American gardeners. This was the first time,
however, that heavy construction equipment was employed in
building a Japanese garden by Juki Iida and his staff.
Built in 1959, the Seattle Japanese Garden was the earliest postwar
public construction of a Japanese-style garden on the Pacific
Coast, and thus has had a strong influence on the design on
Japanese gardens throughout the region. A number of local
landscape designers have been deeply influenced by the garden
and Juki Iida. One of whom is Robert Shields, an architect and
member of the Seattle Japanese Garden Society for over 25
years, who designed and constructed a Japanese-style garden at
his former residence on Whidbey Island, Washington.
for full text:
http://www.jgarden.
org/images_howto/Kobayashi_SeattleJapaneseGarden.pdf
Past, Present and Future (excerpt)
By Koichi Kobayashi, Affiliate Professor, University of Washington
Kobayashi & Associates, Inc.
A highly regarded, peaceful sanctuary tucked into the University
of Washington’s Arboretum, the Seattle Japanese Garden is one of
the finest Japanese gardens to be constructed outside Japan.
Rated among the top ten most favorite Japanese Gardens in the
United States by a garden journal, the Seattle Japanese Garden is
an extremely popular destination for locals and visitors alike in the
Puget Sound area, and rivals the famous Japanese Gardens of
Portland and San Francisco.
The three and a half-acre garden contains the features of stroll-
through gardens of the formal (shin-style) type, built during the
Momoyama Period (late 16th century) and early Edo period (early
17th century). The stroll garden style aims to create the illusion
of several landscapes within a garden, which reveal, suggest and
disappear along a path.
Kiyoshi Inoshita, one of the garden’s initial designers, describes his
design intent:
- The flow of water, which originated at the high mountain
ranges, transforms itself as it continues its way through the
landscape;
first it turns into a waterfall, then into a stream, washing the
bank by a tea hut, and finally becomes a lake.
At the lakeshore are a variety of features such as a rock
promontory, an inlet, and steep slopes, through which
water continues its way, until it reaches a village (an image
of the village symbolically represented by a cherry grove,
iris paddies, and a moon viewing hill).
At the village, there appears an island connected to the
shore by two different bridges. At the end of the lake is a
stone paved boat launch, which symbolically represent a
fishing village. There, the water disappears from one’s sight,
leaving the expectation that it will be joining the greater
ocean.
In historical documents written by the initial designers, no
references are made to other gardens that could have influenced
the design of the Seattle Japanese Garden. However Professor
Makoto Suzuki of Tokyo Agricultural University has started
researching the possible influence of the Horai En Garden, which
existed at the site of the Matsuura Clan Family residence in Tokyo,
and was built in the Edo period, as well as
the Katsura Imperial Village in Kyoto.
History
The initial movement to create a Japanese Garden in Seattle began
in 1909, when the Alaska Yukon Exhibition was held. A Japanese
Pavilion with an accompanying garden was built for the fair, which
ignited regional interest in and excitement about Japanese gardens.
In 1924, the Olmstead Brothers designed the University of
Washington Arboretum, and by 1937, officials agreed that the
Arboretum needed a Japanese Garden. The realization of the
garden, however, had to wait till the end of the World War II,
when racial and political tensions eased.
It wasn’t until 1957 that The Arboretum Foundation began raising
funds for the creation of the Japanese Garden. The Foundation
asked Tatsuo Moriwaki of Tokyo Metro Parks to help guide the
process. He selected Kiyoshi Inoshita and Juki Iida to design the
project.
The design was completed in 1959. Under the supervision of Juki
Iida and Nobumasa Kitamura, construction began in March 1960
and was completed on an accelerated schedule within four
months. Juki Iida personally scouted and selected 580 large
granite rocks (some of them boulders) from the nearby
Snoqualami Pass to insert in the garden. Since the construction of
the garden was originally envisioned to require three years, the
execution required a number of revisions and changes in design
throughout the garden. The construction was done mostly by
local Japanese-American gardeners. This was the first time,
however, that heavy construction equipment was employed in
building a Japanese garden by Juki Iida and his staff.
Built in 1959, the Seattle Japanese Garden was the earliest postwar
public construction of a Japanese-style garden on the Pacific
Coast, and thus has had a strong influence on the design on
Japanese gardens throughout the region. A number of local
landscape designers have been deeply influenced by the garden
and Juki Iida. One of whom is Robert Shields, an architect and
member of the Seattle Japanese Garden Society for over 25
years, who designed and constructed a Japanese-style garden at
his former residence on Whidbey Island, Washington.
for full text:
http://www.jgarden.
org/images_howto/Kobayashi_SeattleJapaneseGarden.pdf
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