An elegant, handcrafted Moon Bridge spans the Upper Pond in the Stroll Pond Garden, and more than two-dozen authentic stone lanterns grace the grounds, including a 100-year-old Five-Storied Pagoda Lantern that was a gift from the City of Sapporo. Special features of the Garden include a 100-year-old authentic temple gate that stands at the lower entrance, a 1976 gift from the Japanese Ancestral Society of Oregon. Over the years, eight professional gardeners from Japan have overseen the Garden’s maintenance and construction, in addition to a local staff of professional gardeners. The fifth and most contemporary style of garden, the Natural Garden, was added later to complete the site. His master plan included several garden styles to represent historical developments and concepts in Japanese garden design: the Stroll Pond Garden, the Flat Garden, the Tea Garden, and the Sand and Stone Garden. With a climate not unlike that of central Japan, Portland was an ideal place to build a Japanese garden, and Tono took up the challenge. In 1961, he was commissioned by the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens to design a replica of the sand-and-stone garden of Ryoanji temple in Kyoto, which earned him international recognition. He returned to Japan following the devastating Great Kanto Earthquake in 1923 and taught landscape architecture at Tokyo Agricultural University. Considered one of the most important Japanese landscape architects of his time, Tono graduated from Hokkaido University in 1916 and received his master’s degree in landscape architecture from Cornell University in 1921. The Japanese Garden is the vision of Takuma Tono, who was commissioned to design the space in 1963. The former location of the old Washington Park Zoo was selected, and the 5.5-acre site was dedicated in 1963 by Portland Mayor Terry Schrunk and Sapporo Mayor Yosaku Harada. Following the establishment of the Portland-Sapporo Sister City Association in 1959, the Japan Society of Oregon launched a study to explore the possibility of creating a Japanese garden as a symbol of the renewed bond of friendship. The Garden was established in the early 1960s to strengthen ties between the people of Portland and Sapporo, Japan. For more than forty-five years, the Portland Japanese Garden has offered a personal encounter with Japanese culture and a tranquil experience that celebrates the natural beauty of Oregon.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |