I would like to thank Calvin Barksdale, formerly of Tuttle Publishing, for supporting this book, June Chong for guiding it, and David Cobb for his boundless enthusiasm and generosity, qualities matched only by his skill as a photographer and his stamina as a traveler.
I am deeply indebted to the many garden professionals who have provided research materials and patiently answered questions. In North America, I was greatly helped by garden designers who shared their ideas and memories, notably Hichi Kurisu, David Engel, David Slawson, Barry Starke, Ken Sakurai, Takeo Uesugi, Masayuki Mizuno, and Tru Tanaka. I have been equally fortunate to receive much information from public garden directors, curators, horticulturalists, and board members, including Diana LaRowe of the Phoenix Japanese Friendship Garden, James Folsom and David MacLaren of the Huntington Botanic Garden, Gene Greene of Suihen, Lon Saavedra of Hakone Estate and Garden, Sam Fukudome of San Mateo, Stephen Bloom and Sadafumi Uchiyama of the Portland Japanese Garden, Lisa Chen of the Seattle Department of Parks and Recreation, Richard Brown of the Bloedel Reserve, Patrick Lewis of the University of British Columbia, Jim Flott and Steve Gustafson in Spokane, Robert Hironaka of the Nikka-Yk Japanese Garden in Lethbridge, Edward Conners and Ebi Kond of the Denver Botanic Gardens, Henry Painter of the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, Bob Byers, Marla Crider, and Mike Brown of Garvan Woodland Gardens, Ben Chu of the Missouri Botanical Garden, Benjamin Carroll and Chris Jarantoski of the Chicago Botanic Garden, John Anderson and Tim Gruner of the Anderson Japanese Gardens, Louis Rinfret of the Jardin Botanique du Montral, Brian Funk and Scott Medbury of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Frank Chance and Kim Andrews of Shfs in Philadelphia, Leigh Ann Lomax of Cheekwood, Dale Wheary and Peggy Singleman of the Maymont Japanese Garden, and Larry Rosensweig of the Morikami Japanese Gardens. I must also extend my gratitude to Douglas Roth, publisher of Sukiya Living magazine, and Prof. Seiko Got of Rutgers University for their assistance and insight. My experience of Japanese gardens in North America is much indebted to many other professionals and enthusiasts.
In Japan, I would like to acknowledge the assistance of Prof. Makoto Suzuki of Tokyo University of Agriculture and Prof. Miyuki Manabe-Katahira of Momoyama Gakuin University, as well as garden designers Ken Nakajima, Shir Nakane, Shunmy Masuno, and Takao Donuma.
Finally, it is an honor to thank Ron Herman and Marc Treib, who, 30 years ago, introduced me to Japanese gardens in their class at the University of California Berkeley. Most of all, this book would not have been possible without the constant research assistance, in English and Japanese, of my wife Kuniko. She has been an indefatigable internet explorer and a steady navigator during our research travels in 47 American states and 4 Canadian provinces over 20 years.
Kendall H. Brown
APPENDIX 1
Contact Information
(p. 20) Golden Gate Park 7 Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive, San Francisco, CA 94118 japaneseteagardensf.com/
(p. 26) Huntington Botanic Garden 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, CA 91108 huntington.org/
(p. 32) Maymont Japanese Garden 1700 Hampton Street, Richmond, VA 23220 www.maymont.org/
(p. 36) Brooklyn Botanic Garden 1000 Washington Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225 www.bbg.org/
(p. 40) Hakone Estate and Garden 1000 Big Basin Way, Saratoga, CA 95070 www.hakone.com
(p. 48) Shfs Japanese House and Garden Horticultural and Lansdowne Drives, Philadelphia, PA 19131 www.shofuso.com/
(p. 52) Washington Park Arboretum 9817 55th Ave. S, Seattle, WA 98178 www.seattle.gov/parks/park_detail.asp?id=415
(p. 58) Nitobe Memorial Garden UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant research, 6804 SW Marine Drive, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4 www.botanicalgarden.ubc.ca/nitobe
(p. 64) Bloedel Reserve 7571 NE Dolphin Drive, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 www.bloedelreserve.org/
(p. 70) Portland Japanese Garden 611 SW Kingston Avenue, Portland, OR 97205 www.japanesegarden.com/
(p. 78) Japanese Garden, San Mateo Central Park El Camino Real and 5th Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94402 www.ci.sanmateo.ca.us/index.aspx?Nid=718
(p. 94) Nikka-Yk Japanese Garden 9th Ave and Mayor Magrath Drive, Lethbridge, AB TIJ 3Z6 www.nikkayuko.com/
(p. 90) Nishinomiya Garden, Manito Park 1702 S. Grand Blvd., Spokane, WA 99203 www.manitogardens.com
(p. 94) Fort Worth Botanic Garden 3220 Botanic Garden Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX 76107 fwbg.org/
(p. 100) Shmuen, Cheekwood 1200 Forrest Park Drive, Nashville, TN 37205 www.cheekwood.org/
(p. 108) Missouri Botanical Garden 4344 Shaw Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63110 www.mobot.org/
(p. 114) Chicago Botanic Garden 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe, IL 60022 www.chicagobotanic.org/
(p. 120) Denver Botanic Gardens 1007 York Street, Denver, CO 80206 www.botanicgardens.org/
(p. 126) Tillman Water Reclamation Plant 6100 Woodley Avenue, Van Nuys, CA 91406 www.thejapanesegarden.com/
(p. 132) Minnesota Landscape Arboretum 3675 Arboretum Drive, Chaska, MN 55318 www.arboretum.umn.edu/
(p. 138) Anderson Japanese Gardens 318 Spring Creek Road, Rockford, IL 61107 www.andersongardens.org/
(p. 144) Montral Botanical Garden 4101, Rue Sherbrooke Est, Montal, QC, H1X 2B2 www.2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/jardin/en/japonais/japonais.htm
(p. 150) Boston Museum of Fine Arts 465 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115 www.mfa.org/
(p. 154) Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens 4000 Morikami Park Road, Delray Beach, FL 33446 www.morikami.org/
(p. 160) Japanese Friendship Garden of Phoenix 1125 North 3rd Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85003 www.japanesefriendshipgarden.org/
(p. 166) Garven Woodland Gardens 498 Arkridge Rd., Hot Springs, AR 71913 www.garvangardens.org/
APPENDIX 2
75 Important Japanese Gardens in North America
This appendix lists, with brief descriptions, 15 important gardens in each of five regions across North America. These gardens were selected primarily for their quality, but also taking into account historical importance and geographic distribution. The creation date for each garden is the year major construction was completed. In each region, the gardens are arranged along an imaginary driving tour that can be filled out with the gardens in the front of this book and other gardens found on the websites listed in the Select Bibliography. Armchair travelers can visit these gardens online, touring via the official website, Google Maps, You Tube videos, and photos on various sites.
THE SOUTH
Ichimura-Miami Japanese Garden, Watson Park, Florida
www.friendsofjapanesegarden.com/
The old San-Ai-En stroll garden, built in 1960 by industrialist Kiyoshi Ichimura, was converted in 2002 into a modernist interpretation of a Japanese garden in a circular walled enclosure. Landscape architect Lester Pancoasts garden is more important for what it tries to achieve than for what it actually accomplishes.
Japan Pavilion, World Showcase at EPCOT, Lake Buena Vista, Florida
disneyworld.disney.go.com/parks/epcot/
Befitting its location and function, this Disneyfied version of Japan features a well-made pastiche of various Japanese buildingscastle, palace, pagodasurrounded by elegant waterfalls, pools, paths, and even a dry garden, designed by Shoji Kanaoka and Disneys Imagineers in 1982.
Grand Hyatt (Formerly Hotel Nikko), Atlanta, Georgia
www.grandhyattatlanta.com/
Though incongruous at a huge neo-Georgian style hotel, this garden features a dramatic 30-foot waterfall that cascades to a pond flanked by an outdoor terrace and a quiet tea garden (now called the Zen Garden), both designed by Takeo Uesugi in 1994.