Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden, through Oct. 21

Cultural News, July 2007

Stanley K. Yoshimura and his son, Michio were installing a lantern in Denver, circa 1960. (Collection of Youko Yamasaki. Courtesy of the Japanese American National Museum)

   The Japanese American National Museum in Los Angeles has premiered its latest exhibition, Landscaping America: Beyond the Japanese Garden, which explores the history and influence of Japanese-style gardens and Japanese American gardeners on the American landscape, on June 17 and running through October 21, 2007.

    Since the first Japanese-style garden was exhibited at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, interest in Japanese garden traditions has grown stronger and more popular in America. West Coast Japanese Americans, drawing upon their historic connection to agriculture and their cultural heritage, found themselves as the foremost interpreters of those traditions, but also were compelled to adapt to the local horticulture and landscapes.

     The exhibition, set for the museum’s Weingart Foundation Foyer and Gallery, was designed by the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center’s Hirokazu Kosaka in Los Angeles and the museum’s Clement Hanami, both award-winning artists.

    The design adapts the principle of mie gakure or “hidden and seen,” a concept central to Japanese stroll gardens where different features and elements are revealed and become visible only as the visitor journeys along a curving path.

    Interspersed throughout the exhibition are stories of gardening-related businesses and projects from across the nation. Starting in the mid-1920s, Issei Fujitaro Kubota spent most of his adult life building his garden in the Seattle area, which includes a water feature constructed of more than 400 tons of stone. That garden was designated a historical landmark and today serves as a public park.

    The Yoshimura family founded Mission Nursery in San Gabriel, California, in 1923. When the war began, they sold their stock to a customer named E. Manchester Boddy, who incorporated it into his private garden. That private garden eventually turned into Descanso Gardens at La Canada Flintridge. The Yoshimuras returned after the war to start San Gabriel Nursery & Florist, which is still being run by the family.

   The exhibition follows the evolution of gardening in the Japanese American community, with some individuals specializing in specific fields such as bonsai, the art of miniature trees, or developing their own landscaping design companies.

   Kibei (American-born, Japan-educated) John Yoshio Naka, one of the founders of the California Bonsai Society in the 1950s, was honored when the North American Pavilion at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in Washington, D.C was named for him.   

   Some of these stories are presented through video monitors, which also allows for the viewing of many different gardens from around the country. Besides historical photographs, the exhibition features 3-dimensional artifacts, archival home-movie footage, and artwork created by Japanese Americans gardeners, some of whom also wrote poetry in their spare time.

    The Japanese American National Museum is located at 369 East First Street in the historic Little Tokyo section of Los Angeles. For more information, call (213) 625-0414 or visit www.janm.org.  Admission is $8 for adults. Admission is free to everyone on Thursdays from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. and every third Thursday of the month from 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.