In a post originally written on Cheapism and then shared to AOL, Portland Japanese Garden was named as the most romantic place in Oregon. Journalist Saundra Latham writes, “it’s perfect for a romantic, contemplative stroll any time of year.” While winter weather has disrupted Valentine’s Day plans this week, there’s no better place to make up for it than a trip to the Garden.

Read the full article to see the wonderful and romantic company our organization keeps.

The post From AOL: Portland Japanese Garden is the Most Romantic Place in Oregon appeared first on Portland Japanese Garden.

Portland Japanese Garden was featured in a recent New York Times article that recommended different cities for families to head to for spring break. In journalist Emily Goligoski’s article, her section on Portland notes that the Garden has “expansive city views and programming for families” and suggested people check out the Umami Café. Make sure you check out all the other incredible Portland attractions as well as accommodations and restaurants Goligoski highlighted in her article by clicking the button below.

The post From the New York Times: Portland Japanese Garden Among Recommended Family Outings for Spring Break appeared first on Portland Japanese Garden.

Homes & Gardens, a more than 100-year-old publication based out of the United Kingdom that covers interior design and landscape architecture, recently spoke with experts on the best plants to purchase when creating a Japanese garden. Hugo Torii, Garden Curator of Portland Japanese Garden, was included among a select group of experts by journalist Jacky Parker. “Typically, every Japanese garden has stones, plants, and water,” Torii shared. “These are common elements found in Japanese gardens, but I would not go far as to say they are required.” To read the full article, click the link below.

The post From Homes & Gardens: Garden Curator Hugo Torii Among Experts Offering Plant Recommendations for Japanese Gardens appeared first on Portland Japanese Garden.

The following article was originally published in Pacific Horticulture, an education focused non-profit and publication that is “the leading voice of horticulture in our Pacific region for today and future generations, we spread ideas that grow our gardens and landscapes to achieve climate resilience, steward biodiversity, and connect people with nature.” To read the article on their website, click here.

By Will Lerner, Communications Manager for Portland Japanese Garden & Japan Institute

What makes a Japanese garden a Japanese garden? It’s a simple question that is difficult to answer—there is a breadth and depth in this pursuit that the term “Japanese garden” simply fails to capture. It can mean the ascetic beauty of a karesansui (such as the Sand and Stone Garden) or the refined elegance of a chisen kaiyu shiki teien (such as the Strolling Pond Garden). It can mean the gardens that Tachibana no Toshitsuna (1028–1094) described in the world’s oldest extant gardening text, Sakuteiki, or the more natural spaces popularized after World War II by Kenzo Ogata (1912–1988) and his sensei, Juki Iida (1890–1977).

Related: The Zoki no Niwa of Portland Japanese Garden: A Uniquely Natural Feeling

Beyond the aesthetic trappings, a Japanese garden might mean a place for idly strolling while enjoying breezy conversation or a place of solemnity and repose. Just as referring to Japan itself as “homogenous” vanishes the nuances and differences of its varying regions, “Japanese garden” is a malleable term with a wide scope. And yet, Japanese gardens are noticeably different compared to the horticultural works of other cultures. This suggests we can explain what a Japanese garden is, or at least use a few thousand words to get closer to its meaning.

Portland Japanese Garden is uniquely suited to illustrate the beauty of Japanese gardens and unpack their distinction because of how the attraction was crafted by its original designer, Professor Takuma Tono of Tokyo Agricultural University (1891–1987). Retained in the early 1960s by the garden’s nonprofit organization, Tono made the revolutionary choice to incorporate four (later, five) different examples of Japanese landscape architecture representative of different eras in his native nation’s history.

“There are different Japanese gardens in [Portland Japanese Garden] and not even in Japan would you be able to see so many different types of Japanese gardens in one go,” shared Her Imperial Highness, Princess Tsuguko of Takamado at a 2023 gala in Tokyo celebrating the organization’s 60th anniversary. “It is a museum of gardens. For people who want to study Japanese gardens, that’s the place to go. For people who want to feel those Japanese gardens, that’s the place to go.”

Maintaining this “museum of gardens” has been a lineage of 10 Japan-born gardening experts, beginning with Kinya Hira in 1964 and continuing to its current Garden Curator, Hugo Torii, who took on the mantle in 2021. In 2010, during Sadafumi Uchiyama’s tenure as Garden Curator from 2008 to 2021, Portland Japanese Garden welcomed back all eight of his predecessors for a reunion. These individuals have lent their talents and training beyond just this corner of the Pacific Northwest—they’ve built, redesigned, maintained, and consulted on Japanese gardens throughout the world, earning a dizzying number of awards and honors along the way. Board of Trustees President Ed McVicker, who served from 2009 to 2010, used the opportunity of the reunion to ask each of the nine curators the same question: What makes a Japanese garden a Japanese garden?

A Reflection of the Japanese Mind

A Japanese garden is not a garden that just happens to be in Japan—the Barakura English Garden in Nagano illustrates this point with its name alone.  “A Japanese garden … is a combination of the form and the Japanese peoples’ spirit reflected in it,” shared Takao Donuma, Garden Director of Portland Japanese Garden from 1985 to 1987. “Therefore, when asked what a Japanese garden is, I think that it is a garden with a certain form that incorporates the Japanese mind of tradition, culture, and method.”

As Donuma noted to McVicker, the Japanese perspective is crucial. Clarifying that perspective is beyond the scope of this article and exceedingly difficult to do so in English. One of the easiest ways to begin to understand is by looking at how the people of Japan have historically built gardens versus those in the West, which often are alight with energetic flowers.

“Japanese gardens do not use a lot of colors and flowers,” noted Michio Wakui, Garden Director of Portland Japanese Garden from 1974 to 1976. “For example, when we use camellias, we don’t use many but strategically place it in one spot. English gardens use a lot of colors and have fun with colors. On the other hand, Japanese gardens try to keep it as simple as possible. I don’t think that in Japanese gardens, they are consciously arranging the different tones of foliage like in an English garden. It’s more about shape, using stones, and the balance between stones and trees.”

Japanese gardens are not so drastically different from Western cultural outputs that they don’t share certain similarities. Italian Renaissance gardens, for instance, also favor foliage over a tableau of many different flowers. It is rather the accumulation of factors that drive the uniqueness of Japan’s landscape architecture.

While it’s easier to make the distinction between East and West, there are also differences within Asia that may go unappreciated. Chinese gardens are gorgeous spaces that cannot be simply lumped together with Japanese gardens even though the continent-bound country greatly influenced the archipelago nation.

“Let’s use food as an analogy,” shared Sadafumi Uchiyama, now Curator Emeritus of Portland Japanese Garden. “The ingredients may be similar, but the seasoning is different—a reflection of the tastes of each culture. Take the Chinese scholar garden. They bring the garden inside into a courtyard and it’s intricate. The Japanese tend to place the building in the garden in a way that it blends into the landscape.”

Portland Japanese Garden’s neighbor and friend, Lan Su Chinese Garden, illustrates this point well. There, stunning architecture surrounds an oasis of natural beauty. In the Japanese garden, the pavilion and tea house are inconspicuous by comparison.

A person does not need to be Japanese to build a Japanese garden. Uchiyama is perhaps the most passionate advocate that place of origin is not the ultimate horticultural determinant. In 2016, he led the establishment of the International Japanese Garden Training Center, a programmatic arm of Japan Institute and Portland Japanese Garden that combines traditional and time-honored methods with Western approaches to instruction like lectures and homework assignments.

“The Japanese are one of the few cultures that have been continuously building gardens in human history so we are more attuned to the work,” Uchiyama shared. “But it’s the process that matters, not the cultural background. There’s more than one right way to do it—it is just essential to learn the history of these gardens, their importance, and their meaning. Understanding that, can anyone build a Japanese garden? Yes, absolutely.”

Some Key Aesthetic Choices

Sticking with what can be seen, Japanese gardens include several human-made elements, typically in subdued and earthen colors, such as stone lanterns, wooden bridges, gates, buildings with clay roof tiles, water basins carved from rock, benches, and arbors. Even in Portland Japanese Garden’s Natural Garden, where the land is paradoxically maintained so it can look as though it has been untouched, there are lanterns and a machiai (sheltered waiting area). Masayuki Mizuno, who was Garden Director for the organization from 1977 to 1980, said these elements are necessary. “A Japanese garden needs a physical component such as a gate or a pavilion,” he told McVicker.  “A garden is not a park. It belongs to these structures.”

The rustic simplicity of materials lacks audacity. Granite and wood suggest humility absent from the grandeur of ornate fountains or gods represented in marble. “One of the most important components in a [Japanese] garden is its elegance,” shared Kinya Hira, the first Garden Director of Portland Japanese Garden from 1964 to 1969. “That is why the gardens in Kyoto and Nara, [ones] that have existed for thousands of years, are still remaining.”

Because elements like stone lanterns and raked white gravel are so deeply associated with Japanese gardens, even the most well-meaning gardener may err in their use of them and end up with an inelegant space that demonstrates Western misunderstanding rather than reflect the aesthetics of Japan.

“There’s a long list,” Uchiyama said with a smile when asked what wayward choices he’s seen. “For instance, you’ll see white gravel everywhere. People will neglect that it should only be used with moderation. Gravel doesn’t suddenly make a garden a Japanese garden. Sometimes you will see stones that aren’t carefully placed. There are smaller details as well. Japanese gardens have buildings and while there may be a variety of them, they all have roofs within a given pitch range that you shouldn’t deviate from—a range that has existed for over 700 years. If those guidelines have been followed for that long, there must be a good reason.”

Beyond the interplay of nature and subtle adornments, a Japanese garden doesn’t simply provide something to look at—instead, the gardeners consider how you will look at something.

“The concept of walking through a garden and enjoying different perspectives of the same space, I think, is only seen in a Japanese garden,” Wakui told McVicker. Though never starkly obvious, when one walks the historic garden spaces of Portland Japanese Garden, they rarely step foot on a pathway that has a clear end point. Walks here take people in loops and zigzags and with every few feet a new and intentional perspective is presented. Even in the ecstatic frenzy of Portland’s famous International Rose Test Garden, there is an order to things, with paths forming a grid.

Japanese gardens, meanwhile, keep you in anticipation of what’s around the bend. “Just like a play where you cry and laugh, or like how music has soft and loud sections, a [Japanese] garden needs open spaces and hiding places,” remarked Kichiro Sano, Garden Director of Portland Japanese Garden from 1982 to 1984. Sano here is referencing miegakure, or “hide and reveal,” an important Japanese garden design concept in which all elements of the landscape will not be viewable from one fixed location. Instead, one must move around.

“Japanese gardens are surrounded and never really have an open space,” shared Toru Tanaka, the eighth Garden Director of Portland Japanese Garden from 1988 to 1991. “[Being surrounded] is the most important element and without it, it will not be a [Japanese] garden … when people are put in a place that is surrounded, they feel protected.”

Capturing the Quintessence of Nature

“Stones and white sand may be the easiest way to identify a Japanese garden, but Japanese gardens were originally meant to replicate the natural landscape,” explained Hachiro Sakakibara, Garden Director of Portland Japanese Garden from 1972 to 1974, speaking with Ed McVicker. This is another essential consideration when it comes to these spaces: distilling nature.

“There are components that represent nature like mountains, rivers, valleys, and rivers flowing into the ocean,” shared Masayuki Mizuno, Garden Director of Portland Japanese Garden from 1977 to 1980. “So we need waterfalls, the sound of water, the movement of the water, the flow of the water that eventually ends in a pond. If the configuration of the pond and the plants surrounding it are well selected, the pond will feel like a lake or an ocean to the visitor.”

Another element of distilling nature includes making a setting feel as aged as a natural space can. “In Japan it is important to create a garden that feels like it has been there for 100 or even 200 years,” Sano added. “We don’t want anything that looks newly made … Also, it is often said that the teacher of a Japanese garden is nature. Therefore, it all depends on what we conceive of as nature. Our job is to understand what nature is and express that by bringing in trees and planting them in a certain way. In order to do that, you need the training and you need to learn how to bring out the beauty of the trees.”

Uchiyama similarly gravitates toward a variation on this theme: he is not necessarily trying to copy nature verbatim; he’s trying to copy the experience of nature. This means it’s not necessarily about placing stones in such a way that resembles a mountainous area, it’s about placing them to make the guest feel the same way that they do when they’re in a mountainous area.

“A Japanese garden is a beautiful and emotional manifestation of the true land we need. The sound of water, the whispering of tree branches in wind,” he shared. “We want the experience of being in the wild; we choose physical objects and materials that help provide it. The shape and form of the materials are, in some ways, irrelevant.”

Hoichi Kurisu, the second Garden Director of Portland Japanese Garden from 1968 to 1973, has similar thoughts on the paradoxical quest of creating a scene that is simultaneously manmade and unspoiled nature.

“A Japanese garden incorporates all the techniques, balance and harmony learned from nature throughout the centuries, and does not interfere with nature,” Kurisu told McVicker. “… We bring out the essence of nature and combine it with balance and harmony in a space where people go and see a garden. But if the balance is broken, it is no longer a Japanese garden. That is the same with harmony. If the harmony is broken, it is no longer a Japanese garden.”

A Depository of Emotions

You can go to the Japanese garden to celebrate an achievement with your family. You can go to the Japanese garden to mourn a loss alone. A Japanese garden is a place that will always meet the needs you have in any given day, a “depository of emotions,” as Uchiyama put it. “French and English gardens may provide contemplative spaces, but the key is that Japanese gardeners and designers having knowingly built gardens over the course of history to provide space for people’s thoughts and feelings. Providing space for emotions drives the design.”

It is in this that we see how a “Japanese garden” functions as “healing garden.” To Kurisu, the terms are essentially interchangeable. “I think that a Japanese garden uses a technique that creates that harmony between the space and balance,” he shared. “I feel that each individual thing in a Japanese garden is part of this harmony.”

How do these places achieve the effect of healing? Some of it boils down to the basic needs of humans to be in nature. There is growing evidence that time in the wild is preventive care for both body and mind. Whether it is the relaxing influence of colors or the immune-system-boosting phytoncides that plants gift us, there is a correspondence between Mother Earth and our fibers and sinew. It is true that these effects can happen in any number of natural spaces belonging to any people. Perhaps what differentiates the Japanese garden is that this connection between healing and time spent outdoors is actively considered by its creator and its stewards—and always has been. Guests should be able to perceive the results.

Related: Forest Bathing to Better our Health

“By the time the visitors leave the garden, they should feel reenergized because the experience of walking through the garden has cleared their minds,” added Mizuno. “If the majority of the visitors did not feel that way, it is not a Japanese garden. There must be something wrong with the composition. It is easy to just put the physical elements in a garden, but you need the skills and eye for the configuration of the pond, size of streams, and the overall balance of all the elements.”

1,000 Years and Counting

It has often been quipped that it takes 200 years to truly master the craft of Japanese gardening and even that may not be enough. After all, Japanese gardens are never complete—they live, they grow, they transform.

“Japanese gardens have evolved over the course of 1,000 years, with each iteration reflecting the needs of a given time,” concluded Hugo Torii, Garden Curator of Portland Japanese Garden since 2021. “This evolution has created a rich diversity of garden styles, all of which offer something unique to be appreciated. However, the quintessential factor that elevates landscapes such as Portland Japanese Garden is that they allow the visitor to experience Japanese culture and its emphasis on respecting nature and being in harmony with it. Whether a space is decorative like a raked gravel garden or more rustic like a tea garden, they provide a place to confirm our connection and find our distance with nature and in this, the opportunity to heal.”

The post The Distinction of Japanese Gardens as Told by the Experts Who Create and Maintain Them appeared first on Portland Japanese Garden.

PORTLAND, Ore., United States—February 3, 2025—Portland Japanese Garden is excited to present its first new art exhibition of 2025 with Earthen Elegance: The Ceramic Art of Bizen. Opening Saturday, February 8 and running through June 9 in the Pavilion Gallery, this exhibition celebrates contemporary ceramic art and vessels that preserve a time-honored collaboration of earth, fire, and the artist’s hand. Among the works are pieces by famous Bizen ceramicists, including Jun Isezaki, a Living National Treasure of Japan, and by Ryūichi Kakurezaki, one of Japan most innovative contemporary sculptors.

The city of Bizen is a ceramic center that has continued its unique form of pottery for over 900 years. Notable for their rustic, textured, and unglazed forms, the works featured in Earthen Elegance reveal the breadth of techniques that define Bizen pottery. Silken clay, dredged from the earth that sustains rice paddies, is combined with grittier clay pulled from mountainous surroundings. It is then expertly transformed through the process of firing in wood-fueled kilns. The resulting ceramics speak to humankind’s coexistence with nature.

Earthen Elegance features art on loan from the Collection of David Sneider and Naomi Pollock. Sneider, an international lawyer, and Pollock, an architect and author, lived and worked in Japan for 30 years. Deeply moved by the artistry and craftsmanship of Japanese pottery, they assembled an extensive collection which spans the full horizon of contemporary Japanese ceramics.  Within Bizen ceramics, they marvel at how a particularly large number of innovative artists are applying local materials and time-honored techniques to create work that respects tradition and yet is truly modern.  

Contemporary Bizen’s reverence for tradition, attention to their raw materials, and adherence to aesthetic simplicity informed by nature provides the ideal complement to the curated scenery at Portland Japanese Garden.

Event Information

Earthen Elegance: The Ceramic Art of Bizen
February 8 – June 9, 2025
Pavillion Gallery, Portland Japanese Garden
611 SW Kingston Ave. Portland, OR 97205
(503) 223-1321 (main)
Cost: Included with Daily Admission
Hours & Admission found here

Visual Assets

Images can be found in this Dropbox folder. The photographer’s name is in the file name. Please stylize the credit as “Courtesy of Portland Japanese Garden, photo by [fill in name].” If no photographer is listed, “Courtesy of Portland Japanese Garden” will suffice. Images of the exhibition will be included when available.

Media Contact

Will Lerner, Communications Manager
(503) 542-9351 (office)
wlerner@japanesegarden.org

About Portland Japanese Garden  

Portland Japanese Garden is a nonprofit organization originally founded in 1963 as a place for cross-cultural understanding following World War II. A hallmark in the City of Portland, the Garden was founded on the ideals of peace and mutual understanding between peoples and cultures. Portland Japanese Garden is considered the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan and the foremost Japanese cultural organization in North America. 

About Japan Institute

Japan Institute was established in 2022 as a global cultural initiative of Portland Japanese Garden. This sibling organization is the programmatic arm of Portland Japanese Garden, allowing us to share and expand our cultural programs more broadly around the world, deepen international partnerships, and continue to engage diverse people in shared experiences and conversations about peace, beauty, and connection of nature.

Portland Japanese Garden & Japan Institute share the mission: Inspiring Harmony & Peace.

The post First Art Exhibition of 2025 at Portland Japanese Garden Features Contemporary Bizen Ceramics Based on 900-Year Tradition appeared first on Portland Japanese Garden.

By Will Lerner, Communications Manager for Portland Japanese Garden & Japan Institute

On January 19, 2025, history was made at Portland Japanese Garden when Oregon State Representative Mari Watanabe was sworn in by Justice Aruna Masih of the Oregon Supreme Court to fill a vacant seat for House District 34. Watanabe, who has served on the Garden’s Board of Trustees since May 2024, is the granddaughter of Japanese immigrants and has been a Portland resident since 2000.

She has also been a highly admired leader in her community. As Nadia Hasan, an elected leader on the Beaverton City Council and master of ceremonies for this special gathering, noted, “Representative Watanabe has long advocated for rights and humanity of women, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community. Those values are the touchstone of her choices and actions, stemming not the least from the forced removal and illegal incarceration of her family and 120,000 other Japanese Americans because of their ethnicity during World War II.”

“Motivated by this, she left a well-paying job at Nike to work as the Executive Director for the Japanese American Museum of Oregon,” Hasan continued. “Mari is the epitome of leadership. She says our names in rooms we are not in. …She guarantees us the opportunity to sit at tables that were not always built for us.”

Representative Watanabe’s appointment, certified by Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read at the ceremony, makes her the first Japanese American woman to serve in the Oregon legislature, a body that held its first regular session in 1860. “I am so proud to be the first Japanese American woman in the state legislature,” Watanabe shared. “I am a third generation Japanese American whose ancestors have been in America for over 120 years. This is historic.”

Oregon’s newest legislator took time the following day, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, to discuss with us this important moment for the region’s Japanese American community, the state of Oregon, and Portland Japanese Garden.

A Milestone Moment Takes Place at the Garden

While the creation of Portland Japanese Garden is most directly tied to efforts among the city’s civic leaders and friends overseas in Sapporo, Japan in the aftermath of World War II, its importance gains deeper significance when one considers those of Japanese ancestry were subject to government-sponsored cruelty as soon as they began immigrating to Oregon in the 19^th century. While work remains to make the region a place where Japanese Americans, and all Asian Americans, can thrive and live without fear of discrimination, the Garden has been credited as having facilitated better understanding and friendship with a culture and people once dubbed “the enemy.” The organization’s mission of Inspiring Harmony and Peace is thus both a statement of deeds done and aspirations that propel it forward.

Watanabe, who is co-chair of the organization’s Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion Committee, shares that the Garden’s history and mission resonates with her, and that’s why she chose it as the site of the ceremony.

“I just thought of what place resonated with me, my values, and my heritage the most—it was Portland Japanese Garden,” Watanabe says. “I thought, ‘Wow, if I could have this ceremony there, that would make this a complete circle.’ I was really happy when [Lisa Christy, Executive Director of the organization] said yes. Lisa was so gracious and the staff was so willing.”

“When we have places that are of and share different cultures it makes the people from those cultures feel more welcome knowing they are represented,” Watanabe continued, explaining why places like Portland Japanese Garden are important to their communities. “It then allows others who do not understand or know about this culture to learn without having to fly to Japan. The Garden’s programming really helps people expand their respective on Japanese heritage. I think this is very important—being able to have places to come together and be inclusive and encourage understanding. It really makes me feel good people love the beauty and culture of the Japanese.”

A Highly Admired Member of the Board of Trustees

Portland Japanese Garden is fortunate to have dedicated, experienced, and passionate individuals on both its Foundation Board and Board of Trustees. Watanabe becoming a Trustee in May of 2024 was yet another boon for the organization. In addition to her leadership at the Japanese American Museum of Oregon, she served as Executive Director for Partners in Diversity, an organization that helps employers build and strengthen diverse workforces. She has won numerous awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oregon Commission for Women in 2023. In 2011, Watanabe was chosen by the U.S.-Japan Council to be among a 13-person delegation of Japanese Americans to help strengthen transpacific relations between the two nations.

“I really admired how the Garden went from a smaller organization into one that was globally known during Steve’s tenure as CEO,” Watanabe shared, referring to Steve Bloom, CEO of Portland Japanese Garden from 2005 to 2024. “Shining that light on Portland was major. I really respected the work that Steve and the Garden was doing. I was honored when he asked me to join the Board of Trustees and I’m glad to be able to help. I’ve always loved the beauty and simplicity of Japanese gardens, so that plus being able to be part of a great organization with a strong Board of Trustees and excellent staff was something that attracted me.”

Watanabe was working the apparel industry when she moved to Oregon and rarely had time to visit any of the city’s remarkable attractions, let alone the Garden. Her connection to the organization began to develop later when she joined the Board of Portland Taiko, a cultural partner of Portland Japanese Garden that has performed taiko drumming on its grounds for several years. “I love the Sand and Stone Garden,” she offered when asked if there was a space she particularly enjoys. “After I learned that it is thought to depict the story of Buddha sacrificing himself to save starving tiger cubs, it became my favorite garden space. But I also love ‘The Tree’ and Flat Garden.”

On Being the First

It is always a joyous moment when leaders from marginalized communities navigate a thrum of historic and still systemic persecution to achieve success in government, business, the arts, nonprofits sectors, and beyond. And yet, these watershed events are also tinged with regret—these individuals should not have encountered barriers in the first place. We should not have waited this long for such firsts.

“I didn’t want to be the first,” Watanabe notes. “I think the Japanese American experience during World War II created this cautiousness of doing something like this. When my family was incarcerated, they didn’t know why. They were told they were an enemy alien. They didn’t even know where Pearl Harbor was or had ties to Japan. They realized, ‘We are being thrown behind barbed wire because we look like this. We look this way, we look like the enemies.’ I have been thinking about those whispers and things that I heard all my life, based on their experience, that to be a good American, you have to keep your head down, don’t make waves. Being in politics is definitely going against all those things. I’m going to say that for me this is really stepping out of my comfort zone.”

“I look at Tiffany Koyama Lane, the first Japanese American elected to the Portland City Council,” Watanabe continues. “She’s a fourth generation Japanese American [Yonsei]. I’m third [Sansei]. I’m hopeful that going forward there won’t be as much hesitation to step in and step out.”

“Sometimes people will come up to me and say, ‘Oh my god, I came just to hear you speak because it’s the first time I’ve ever seen an Asian woman speak to this group,’” Watanabe concludes. “Even just last week I had somebody’s son who was born in Vietnam want to come work with me just because I look like him. Those things are not lost on me. I think that’s why I keep saying to myself, ‘Representation matters.’ We need to see ourselves in these positions so that we know we can get them if we want them.”

Officials Who Attended Rep. Watanabe’s Swearing-In Ceremony at Portland Japanese Garden

Portland Japanese Garden was honored to receive multiple elected leaders and officials throughout the region to witness and participate in Representative Watanabe’s swearing-in ceremony. Those who attended are below. People who, like Watanabe, have made history, are accompanied by notes below their names.

Ben Bowman, Representative for District 25 & Majority Leader, Oregon House of Representatives

Julia Brim-Edwards, Commissioner, Multnomah County, Oregon

Dr. Tammy Carpenter, Board Member, Beaverton, Oregon School District

Nafisa Fai, Commissioner, Washington County, Oregon
(First immigrant and refugee, first Black, and the first Muslim Commissioner for Washington County)

Nadia Hasan, Beaverton City Council
(First Muslim to serve on a city council in Oregon, first South Asian American elected in Beaverton and Washington County)

Dr. Edward Kimmi, Beaverton City Council President

Tiffany Koyama Lane, Vice President, Portland City Council
(First Japanese American on Portland City Council)

Barbie Minor, Board of Directors President, Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District

Felicita Monteblanco, Board of Directors, Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District

Alfredo Moreno, Board of Directors Secretary, Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District

The Honorable Adrienne Nelson, U.S. District Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon
(First Black woman to be Judge on U.S. District Court for District of Oregon; First Black Justice appointed to Oregon Supreme Court)

The Honorable Aruna Masih, Justice, Oregon Supreme Court
(First Indian American, South Asian American, and Punjabi to serve on the Oregon Supreme Court)

Daniel Nguyen, Representative for District 38, Oregon House of Representatives
(First person of color elected to Lake Oswego City Council, first Vietnamese American to serve as public elected official in Oregon)

Tobias Read, Oregon Secretary of State

Tawna Sanchez, Representative for District 43, Oregon House of Representatives

Thuy Tran, Representative for District 45, Oregon House of Representatives

Pam Treece, Commissioner, Washington County, Oregon

Kien Truong, Board of Directors, Portland Community College

The Honorable Chanpone Sinlapasai, Judge for the 4^th Judicial District Court, Oregon
(First Lao and first Lao refugee to become a judge in the United States)

The Honorable Ulanda Watkins, Judge for the 5^th Judicial District Court, Oregon
(First Black person to serve as judge in an Oregon county other than Multnomah)

Helen Ying, Board of Directors, Multnomah Education Service District

The post Representation Matters: Mari Watanabe, Board Trustee, on Making History by Becoming First Japanese American Woman to Join Oregon Legislature appeared first on Portland Japanese Garden.

With school districts in the greater Portland area approaching spring break, parents and guardians are on the search for outings that will be engaging for their children. As has been reported in The New York Times, Portland Japanese Garden is a great outing for families. With a series of rotating cultural demonstrations and performances, art exhibitions, a Gift Shop filled with unique and fun wares, wagashi (Japanese sweets) and teas at the Umami Café, and the everlasting beauty of our landscape, the Garden has something for everyone.

The appeal of Portland Japanese Garden for kids isn’t just something that we have witnessed, it’s something many of our staff know firsthand! We chatted with some of the moms and dads on our team to learn some tips they have for bringing kids to the Garden, and why they enjoy family time here, be it over spring break or any time of year.

Tips For Parents Bringing Children to Portland Japanese Garden

We asked parents on our staff what tips they might be able to share about other moms, dads, and guardians might benefit from knowing ahead of their visit.

“We recently collaborated with a beloved local illustrator, Mike Bennett, for our Children’s Discovery Map,” shares Megumi Kato, Senior Director of Brand and Innovation. “You can find these at our Fukuta Concierge Desk, and make sure to let them know when you find all the items for a fun sticker prize!”

“Since food is not allowed here, I recommend that you plan your outing around their meal and snack times,” Mayuko Sasanuma, Director of Cultural Programming, shares. “Pro tip: Your kiddos might enjoy a small picnic at the [adjacent] International Rose Test Garden before or after the trip to Portland Japanese Garden.”

“You could also make a reservation at the Umami Café to end your visit there,” Special Programs Manager Yuki Wallen adds. “You will have something you look forward to while strolling. You can also tell your hungry kids that something yummy is waiting for them, which seems to help calm them down. It is a great way to finish your experience at the Garden.”

“If your kid is very small and you do need a stroller for them, maybe bring a small foldable stroller, like an umbrella stroller which is easier to carry. I’d also suggest leaving behind any toys or electronics so they can try to focus on the nature and the peaceful experience of the Garden.” Visitor Relations Assistant Manager, Justin Leverett, suggests. Stroller parking can be found on-site at the Garden, if you decide you want to store it for part of the visit.

“I’d suggest taking our free shuttle up unless your kids are used to hiking,” Cultural Programs Manager Kelsey Cleveland adds, noting the winding switchback trail through our Entry Garden that takes guests into the Cultural Village. She also offered a way to keep the kids engaged throughout the experience.  “If your child is old enough, let them serve as the photographer of your visit to capture the visit from their perspective.”

Finally, there are several events held at Portland Japanese Garden that are specifically tailored for younger audiences. “Sign up for our weekly newsletter and check out about our festivals,” Sasanuma concludes. “Most of our festivals are kid and family-friendly and for some, we offer child-centered activities, like ikebana and origami workshops.”

A Place to Rejoice (And See Koi!)

Why bring the kids to the Garden? Sadafumi Uchiyama, Curator Emeritus of Portland Japanese Garden, once described our grounds as a “depository of all kinds of emotions.” While many seek its comfort in moments of distress, it is equally a fitting place to rejoice life’s happy moments. So, while some may seek a quiet corner in the Natural Garden for self-reflection, there are plenty of elements that match the vibrancy and joy children bring with them.

“My child loves doing the Children’s Discovery Map!” Kathy Parmenter, Executive Assistant and Director of Board Relations, shares, referring to the same free map previously mentioned, one that guides guests on a scavenger-style search throughout the Garden, available at the Mayho and Calvin Tanabe Welcome Center or Concierge office in the Cultural Village. “It keeps them engaged throughout the Garden. We also like to have a sweet treat in the Umami Café.”

“Kids love participating in the Garden treasure hunt activity,” Leverett agrees. “I enjoy it when they claim prizes in the Concierge office after finding everything. They get very excited just to be outside and run around. It’s so much fun to have children around!”

“My four-year-old son Toby is a bit of an ‘architecture’ enthusiast, so he gets a little bit obsessive over doors and stairs,” Leverett noted when asked about his own kids. “When we first visited the Garden as a family, Toby got preoccupied with the stairs in the Natural Garden and the stairs going up and down from the Pavilion. He went up and down the Pavilion stairs near the overlook at least 20 times. He also liked the Zig-Zag Bridge and enjoyed checking out the koi.”

“My 6-year-old son likes the koi and the deer chaser,” Sasanuma adds. “He also likes to come for the traditional Japanese music performances.”

Introducing a Different Culture

As some of the earliest correspondence between its founding Board of Directors and our original designer, Professor Takuma Tono of Tokyo Agricultural University, demonstrates, Portland Japanese Garden was built with the mindset of cultural diplomacy, a term that has many definitions but generally be taken as a means of establishing peace and friendship through the mutual exchange of the arts, values, beliefs, customs, and more. Furthermore, it is done so in a way that it can engage with multiple audiences at once, regardless of age or personal knowledge of Japan.

“It is a great place for a multi-generational outing with kids, parents, and grandparents,” Cleveland, shares. “It’s also a great place to expose kids to another culture without having to travel a long distance to do so. My teenage son has been visiting the Garden since he first learned to walk. In elementary school, he came with a pencil and sketchbook and enjoyed drawing both the koi and the Sand and Stone Garden.”

“My child and I love the free cultural performances and demonstrations,” Parmenter adds. “We make a point to see all the various exhibitions within the Pavilion. It’s the perfect way to introduce various art forms in a low stress way.”

“Kids bring so much curiosity and joy!” Leverett contributes. “To them, everything is new and exciting, and they ask lots of really great questions. Kids who visit the Garden likely have not visited Japan, so the might ask about the lanterns or the rock garden, and they have no pre-conceived notions about what it is or what it represents.”

Reconnecting with Heritage

For some, the Garden’s authentic presentation of Japanese culture is especially meaningful because of their personal background. “I am Japanese and my kids grew up in Japan till they were five, 10 and 13,” Wallen shares. “It is important for me that they do not forget where they come from. Portland Japanese Garden being an immersive experience is essential because they feel the sense of Japan while strolling the gardens—they do not have to be ‘told’ or ‘taught.’”

“I want to give my daughter an opportunity to feel, understand and educate herself through the five senses,” Japan Liaison Manager Natsuko Takahashi shares. “She is now a young adult, so her view of the Garden has shifted from loving the koi, the Kodomo no Hi (Children’s Day) activities, and shopping at the Gift Shop to sitting at my desk pretending to work on the Bring Your Child to work day, volunteering for the Garden, and discovering and learning about her Japanese heritage and culture. She became more aware of the greatness of being multi-cultural and cross cultural through looking at herself through the Garden as a Japanese American.”

“As a Japanese American mother in Portland, I feel fortunate, inspired, and reassured knowing that a place like Portland Japanese Garden exists, where I can bring my children to connect to our heritage in a setting they love – nature!” notes Kato.

Time in Nature

With eight different garden styles ensconced in the towering Douglas firs and cedars of Washington Park, Portland Japanese Garden is a terrific outing for parents eager to get their little ones out in nature. Regardless of the season or the weather of the day, the Garden always provides a place to stroll outdoors and away from glowing screens. Furthermore, on its perch overlooking the city, it is a way to get away from the quickened pace of the urban environment.

“It is beautiful,” Wallen says. “The care provided by the gardeners is superb. And the location being a little bit away from the city’s bustle makes it special. Do not rush and take time to immerse yourself and your kiddos in the Garden. Immersion is the key to understanding Japanese gardens.”

“This is an environment that is uncommonly peaceful and serene, and great for them to burn some energy but also not be overstimulated like they might be at other locations,” Leverett contributes.

Reinforcing Life’s Lessons

No garden is ever just a garden—they’re reminders of what is achievable through care for the land, gifts created for unmet future generations, and avenues through which we confirm our place within the natural world. Portland Japanese Garden, the former site of a brownfield, fostered by successive groups of caring individuals, and intentionally designed to bring nature to a more humanlike scale, exemplifies these traits. As such, some parents enjoy how the Garden reinforces life lessons they wish to impart on their children.

“The Garden teaches my six-year-old son the sense of seasons as we visit often, as well as both the resilience and vulnerability of nature,” Sasanuma shares. “He now knows that if you step on the moss, it can take years for it to grow back.”

“The architecture is beautiful—the buildings and the gardens complement each other very well,” adds Wallen. “The harmony between nature and the human hand is very well done here. That’s how I want to live and how I want my kids to live.”

Stephan Ferreira, Director of Guest Experience and a father himself, notes that this kind of learning can be reciprocal. “Visiting with kids is an amazing opportunity to experience the Garden from a fresh point of view,” he says. “In many ways the Garden is a ‘living museum,’ and it reveals itself to us when we slow down and engage in the present moment. Children of course are naturally in the moment, and they make great guides. Ask questions. What engages their attention? How are they feeling here? Why? And how do you feel after that? Especially today with everything going on around us, these unique moments of dialogue about understanding something together feel restorative.”

Portland Japanese Garden looks forward to welcoming you here! We suggest buying a household membership, which includes unlimited free admission for two adults and eight accompanying children, under 18 years of age. Household-level memberships are also customizable and include the option to add up to three additional members or guests.

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PORTLAND, Ore., United States—January 20, 2025—On Sunday, January 19, Oregon State Representative Mari Watanabe (Washington County) was sworn in by Justice Aruna Masih of the Oregon Supreme Court to fill a vacant seat for House District 34 in front of crowd of family, friends, colleagues, and admirers at Portland Japanese Garden. Watanabe, who serves on the Garden’s Board of Trustees, is the granddaughter of Japanese immigrants and has been a Portland resident since 2000. Her appointment, certified by Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read at the ceremony, makes her the first Japanese American woman to serve in the Oregon legislature, a body that held its first regular session in 1860.

Watanabe had been unanimously voted to the role by a joint session of the Multnomah County and Washington County Boards of Commissioners on Wednesday, January 15. The seat became vacant when Senator Lisa Reynolds, MD (Portland) had been selected to fill a vacancy for Senate District 17, a district previously represented by Oregon Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner, MD.

In 2008, Watanabe was named the first Executive Director of the Japanese American Museum of Oregon. In 2023, she retired after 11 years of serving as Executive Director for Partners in Diversity, an organization that helps employers build and strengthen diverse workforces. She has won numerous awards, including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Oregon Commission for Women in 2023. In 2011, Watanabe was chosen by the U.S.-Japan Council to be among a 13-person delegation of Japanese Americans to help strengthen transpacific relations between the two nations.

“I want to thank Portland Japanese Garden and Lisa Christy, its Executive Director,” Watanabe shared in her remarks. “You and your staff are incredible. I am so grateful—this is the perfect place for me to be sworn in, in my opinion. …I am so proud to be the first Japanese American woman in the state legislature. I am a third generation Japanese American whose ancestors have been in America for over 120 years. This is historic.”

Lisa Christy, Executive Director for Portland Japanese Garden, remarks:

“Portland Japanese Garden is deeply honored to have been the site of Representative Mari Watanabe’s swearing-in ceremony. Mari joined our organization’s Board of Trustees in May of 2024 and has quickly made a positive impact through her experience in nonprofit leadership, passion for diversity, equity, and inclusion, and her intelligence and empathy. She brings an important voice, connection to heritage, and valuable perspective that is crucial to the identity of Portland Japanese Garden.”

“The Garden was founded in 1963 in a city still reeling from the cruel and illegal treatment of its Japanese and Japanese American community members during World War II. Our organization, catalyzed into existence by a fervent desire for cross-cultural understanding, has become a community treasure in large part due to the leadership and dedication of those in Portland’s Japanese American community. The Garden is thrilled for these same neighbors, friends, and advocates to see Representative Watanabe make history by becoming the first woman of Japanese ancestry to join the Oregon state legislature. We look forward to continuing to partner with her as we pursue our mission of Inspiring Harmony and Peace.”

Digital Assets

Photos available here. A document providing context for each photo within. Credit: “Photo by Portland Japanese Garden.”

Media Contact

Will Lerner
Communications Manager, Portland Japanese Garden
(503) 542-9351 (office)
wlerner@japanesegarden.org

About Portland Japanese Garden 

Portland Japanese Garden is a nonprofit organization originally founded in 1963 as a place for cross-cultural understanding following World War II. A hallmark in the City of Portland, the Garden was founded on the ideals of peace and mutual understanding between peoples and cultures. Portland Japanese Garden is considered the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan and the foremost Japanese cultural organization in North America. The mission of Portland Japanese Garden is Inspiring Harmony and Peace.

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On Sunday, January 12, Portland Japanese Garden its multi-day celebration of O-Shogatsu, Japanese New Year, with the return of its beloved festival celebration. Journalist Chiara Profenna and photojournalist Mark Graves of The Oregonian attended the event. Profenna spoke with a Garden guest, Briawna Maruyama, who shared, “It feels very special…Since I don’t have any information through my family, this feels like the most refreshing and truthful way to get to know (Japanese culture).” To read the entire article, click the link below.

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