Seattle Japanese Garden

The Seattle Japanese garden is a walking garden located in the Arbotome. It was proposed in 1909 before the start of World War 2, but was delayed until after hostilities ceased. The project was started in 1957, and funding for the project was provided by the University of Washington in 1958. It was decided that the garden would be built on the former land of the Maple family, and Juki Iida was chosen to design and supervise the construction of the garden. The project took a year to complete starting in 1959 and ending in 1960. Juki took great care in the creation of the garden, selecting over 580 granite stones which he sourced from the Cascade mountains for the project. After its completion in 1966, the Arboretum Foundation was created and maintained the garden through the University of Washington. A year later in 1981 it was donated to the Arboretum, but due to budget cuts it changed hands again, and is now maintained by the Department of Parks and Recreation. 

 The Seattle Japanese garden is a walking garden located in the Arbotome. It was proposed in 1909 before the start of World War 2, but was delayed until after hostilities ceased. The project was started in 1957, and funding for the project was provided by the University of Washington in 1958. It was decided that the garden would be built on the former land of the Maple family, and Juki Iida was chosen to design and supervise the construction of the garden. The project took a year to complete starting in 1959 and ending in 1960. Juki took great care in the creation of the garden, selecting over 580 granite stones which he sourced from the Cascade mountains for the project. After its completion in 1966, the Arboretum Foundation was created and maintained the garden through the University of Washington. A year later in 1981 it was donated to the Arboretum, but due to budget cuts it changed hands again, and is now maintained by the Department of Parks and Recreation.

Juki Iida (1889-1977) was a renowned landscape artist, known for his Japanese gardens. He is also known for creating the Association of Tokyo Gardeners after World War 2. During this time work was harder to come by, and this was especially true for landscape gardeners. In 1946 the Allies ordered maintenance of their captured gardens, so Juki gathered around 20 highly skilled, small to medium, landscaping companies, creating the Association of Tokyo Gardeners. Juki helped convince workers who did not want to work for the US to work for him, arguing that it was in the best interest of Japan, and his company provided jobs to many skilled workers in need who were able to continue working as landscape artists even through the occupation. 

The Association of Tokyo Gardeners also survived the occupation, and Juki Iida went on to create more than 1000 gardens, mostly throughout Japan. He was honored by the Emperor of Japan for his work. In 1959 he was offered to build a garden overseas. “As he contemplated that decision, one of the first things that piqued his interest was the opportunity to work with Japanese American and American landscape gardeners. As he considered this unknown quantity, it appears that he thought of his American colleagues in the same way that he thought of the group of craftsmen he had brought together in the turmoil of the post-war years.” (Seattle Japanese Garden, 2017). He went on to oversee the creation of the Seattle Japanese Garden.

Juki Iida created several pieces of calligraphy, two of which are now preserved in the city of Seattle. The first is a scroll which depicts a garden. This image later inspired the Seattle Japanese garden. It can now be seen in the Elisabeth C. Miller Horticultural Library. The second is a sketch of trees from the Arboretum which surrounds the garden. It was painted in 1960 during the construction of the garden and was given to a rock work contractor named Richard Yamasaki. This is notable because Richard did not speak Japanese, and had no experience crafting Japanese style gardens before this point. Nevertheless they both formed a relationship and Richard gained a lifelong desire to study and understand Iida’s teachings. Near the end of his life he donated the scroll to the Miller Library, and it can now be seen today upon appointment during library hours. 

There are several types of Japanese gardens. Zen Gardens were the earliest form. Created in the Kamakura and Morimichi periods (1185-1573). They came with the rise of Buddhism in Japan, both imported from China. Its purpose was to demonstrate a feeling of Zen, and peacefulness using just sand or gravel. They would be built next to, or around Buddhist temples as extensions of the temple, and as a means of demonstrating how a feeling of zen could be created using simple things. They were constructed starting with a bed of sand or gravel, and then adding Rocks which would be placed around the garden. They are often meant to represent islands, with the gravel/sand representing water. Small shrubs and plants were also planted around the rocks to complete the effect of the garden. 

Tea gardens are considered the most beautiful types of gardens. They were created during the Momoyama Period (1586-1600). They are notable for being separated into an inner garden and the outer garden. The outer garden leads you to a gate which separates and marks the entrance into the inner garden. Customarily you wash your hands in a stone basin called a tsukubai, before crossing the threshold. The inner garden contains the tea house, along with ponds, streams, or other decorations. 

Stroll or Walking Gardens were developed in the Edo period, as continues gardens with no barriers or separation. You follow a path through the garden, which often makes a clockwise loop around a central lake. They are also often decorated with trees and rocks, Bridges and Streams, or and many other additions. 

There is also a subset of Stroll gardens known as Pure Land Gardens. They are characterized by louis ponds and a raised platform or island where the Buddha would sit. This style was introduced by a sect of Buddhists during the Amida era. 

Seattle Japanese Garden. Accessed April 22nd 2022. https://www.seattlejapanesegarden.org.

University of Washington Botanic Gardens, UW. Accessed April 22nd 2022. https://botanicgardens.uw.edu/washington-park-arboretum/gardens/japanese-garden/#:~:text=The%20Japanese%20Garden%20is%20a%203.5-acre%20traditional%20Japanese,Japanese%20Garden%20in%20the%20Arboretum%20began%20in%20earnest.?msclkid=deba2d4dc1a611ecb860330a95b6cb5f.

Seattle Parks and Recreation. Accessed April 22nd 2022. https://www.seattle.gov/parks/find/parks/japanese-garden?msclkid=debac299c1a611ec9e47b4716bd0dd43.

Bourne, Mark. Who was Juki Iida? Working with “Gardeners” Overseas, Seattle Japanese Garden. Accessed April 22nd 2022. https://www.seattlejapanesegarden.org/blog/2017/5/10/juki-iida-working-with-gardeners-overseas?msclkid=f6c7ffbfc1a811ec86c7f7b01f0c321b.

Kennedy, Corinne. A Quiet Legacy: The Juki Iida Scroll, Seattle Japanese Garden. January 14th 2017. Accessed April 22nd 2022. https://www.seattlejapanesegarden.org/blog/2017/2/14/cjy4gju7a7svo3205d23wl7rfmganu?msclkid=f6c8fc39c1a811ecb6a00cae31311b9f.

Japanese Gardens – History, Types, Elements, and More, Kyuhoshi. January 23rd 2022. Accessed April 22nd 2022. https://www.kyuhoshi.com/japanese-gardens/?msclkid=ba965432c1a911ec9fd8ffacb7ae06e5.

Early Japanese Gardens: The Asuka, Nara, and Heian Periods, The Japanese Garden. Accessed April 22nd 2022. https://learn.bowdoin.edu/japanesegardens/origins.html?msclkid=7d8f4d1fc1ab11ec8e9140492e960ff0.

Types of Gardens, Japan-guide.com. Accessed April 22nd 2022. https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2099_types.html?msclkid=e30c9de8c29d11ecbccb0da02aa3e918.