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Coordinates: 45°31′07″N 122°42′29″W / 45.51872°N 122.7080°W / 45.51872; -122.7080
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The 5.5 acre Portland Japanese Garden is composed of five distinct garden styles. When entering a Japanese garden, the desired effect is to realize a sense of peace, harmony, and tranquility and to experience the feeling of being a part of nature. In a deep sense, a Japanese garden is a living reflection of the long history and traditional culture of Japan. Influenced by Shinto, Buddhist, and Taoist philosophies, there is always “something more” in these compositions of stone, water, and plants than meets the eye.
The 5.5 acre Portland Japanese Garden is composed of five distinct garden styles. When entering a Japanese garden, the desired effect is to realize a sense of peace, harmony, and tranquility and to experience the feeling of being a part of nature. In a deep sense, a Japanese garden is a living reflection of the long history and traditional culture of Japan. Influenced by Shinto, Buddhist, and Taoist philosophies, there is always “something more” in these compositions of stone, water, and plants than meets the eye.


Three of the essential elements used to create a Japanese garden are stone, the “bones” of the landscape; water, the life-giving force; and plants, the tapestry of the four seasons. Japanese garden designers feel that good stone composition is one of the most important elements in creating a well-designed garden. Secondary elements include pagodas, stone lanterns, water basins, arbors, and bridges. Japanese gardens are asymmetrical in design and reflect nature in idealized form. Traditionally, human scale is maintained throughout so that one always feels part of the environment, not overpowered by it. As Professor Tono wanted to incorporate native trees in the Portland Japanese Garden so that it would blend naturally with its environment, some of the plantings at the Garden are on a larger scale.
Three of the essential elements used to create a Japanese garden are stone, the “bones” of the landscape; water, the life-giving force; and plants, the tapestry of the four seasons. Japanese garden designers feel that good stone composition is one of the most important elements in creating a well-designed garden. Secondary elements include pagodas, stone lanterns, water basins, arbors, and bridges. Japanese gardens are asymmetrical in design and reflect nature in idealized form. Traditionally, human scale is maintained throughout so that one always feels part of the environment, not overpowered by it. As Professor Tono wanted to incorporate native trees in the Portland Japanese Garden so that it would blend naturally with its environment, some of the plantings at the Garden are on a larger scale.<ref>Portland Japanese Garden [http://japanesegarden.com website]</ref>


== Features ==
== Features ==

Revision as of 00:47, 15 December 2010

Portland Japanese Garden
Map
TypeJapanese garden
LocationPortland, Oregon, United States
Coordinates45°31′07″N 122°42′29″W / 45.51872°N 122.7080°W / 45.51872; -122.7080
Opened1967
StatusOpen to the public
CollectionsStrolling Pond Garden
Natural Garden
Sand and Stone Garden
Flat Garden
Tea Garden
Websitejapanesegarden.com

The Portland Japanese Garden is a traditional Japanese garden occupying 5.5 acres (22,000 m²), located within Washington Park in the west hills of Portland, Oregon, USA.

Design

Flat Garden

The 5.5 acre Portland Japanese Garden is composed of five distinct garden styles. When entering a Japanese garden, the desired effect is to realize a sense of peace, harmony, and tranquility and to experience the feeling of being a part of nature. In a deep sense, a Japanese garden is a living reflection of the long history and traditional culture of Japan. Influenced by Shinto, Buddhist, and Taoist philosophies, there is always “something more” in these compositions of stone, water, and plants than meets the eye.

Three of the essential elements used to create a Japanese garden are stone, the “bones” of the landscape; water, the life-giving force; and plants, the tapestry of the four seasons. Japanese garden designers feel that good stone composition is one of the most important elements in creating a well-designed garden. Secondary elements include pagodas, stone lanterns, water basins, arbors, and bridges. Japanese gardens are asymmetrical in design and reflect nature in idealized form. Traditionally, human scale is maintained throughout so that one always feels part of the environment, not overpowered by it. As Professor Tono wanted to incorporate native trees in the Portland Japanese Garden so that it would blend naturally with its environment, some of the plantings at the Garden are on a larger scale.[1]

Features

The garden has five major subgardens, each of a different degree of formality:

  • The Strolling Pond Garden is the largest and contains multiple areas. In one, the path has rocks arranged as the constellation Big Dipper. Another has an antique multi tiered pagoda lantern, a gift from Portland's sister city of Sapporo with ornamental rocks forming the shape of Hokkaidō island and a red stone for Sapporo. Several ornate or whimsical bridges cross the creeks between ponds.
  • The Natural Garden features multiple ponds, waterfalls and streams. Trees, shrubs, ferns and mosses grow in their natural state.
  • The Sand and Stone Garden features weathered stones rising from rippled sand suggestive of the ocean. The tranquil rake patterns are often seen in dry gardens known as karesansui in Japanese.
  • A Flat Garden is typically found in urban garden design, but here it contrasts with the park folds and contours. Raked white sand represents water and vividly contrasts with lawn, moss, evergreens and azaleas.
  • The Tea Garden has two sections each devoted to enhancing the tea ceremony. The outer area is the waiting station. The inner surrounds the authentic tea house.

History and awards

Strolling Pond Garden

The garden was designed by Professor Takuma Tono beginning in 1963, though the garden opened to the public in 1967.

In a study conducted by the Journal of Japanese Gardening, it was ranked first out of 300 public Japanese gardens outside of Japan and considered to be one of the most authentic. This is notable because a traditional Japanese garden normally takes hundreds of years to evolve and mature, but the Portland Japanese Garden evolved much more quickly—a fusion of hurried western style and stately eastern expression.

Logistics

The Japanese Garden is close to Washington Park's main entrance, at the top of Park Place, just above and a short walk of the International Rose Test Garden. Parking can be scarce on sunny days, but TriMet line 63 stops nearby, as does the Washington Park Shuttle.

The Portland Japanese Garden is across from the tennis courts. Also, the Washington Park and Zoo Railroad has a station by the rose garden. During the summer, it connects to the Oregon Zoo, World Forestry Center, MAX, Portland Children's Museum, Oregon Vietnam Veterans Memorial and Hoyt Arboretum.

See also

Media related to Portland Japanese Garden at Wikimedia Commons

  1. ^ Portland Japanese Garden website