This post is the second of the Toro no Akari blog series, an oral history of the Seattle Japanese Garden as told from the perspective of those who know its every inch most intimately: the gardeners. The series reveals a little-known history of stewardship and mentoring—of alighting each other’s paths as a toro lantern would—that’s continued for over sixty years.   In this interview, we hear from Mark Akai, who contributed his innumerable skills to the garden over a fifty-year span—including as an advisory board member. He reflects on how his personal relationships shaped his career, which ..read more

BY CORINNE KENNEDY Entry sign for the Seike Japanese Garden, originally created at Des Moines Way Nursey and relocated in 2006 to the Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden. (photo: lindaletters.blogspot.com)  Japanese immigrants to the Pacific Northwest (Issei) initially found migratory work in our region’s seasonal, extractive economy, laboring on railroads and in lumber camps, Alaska canneries, and Pacific Northwest hop farms. The Issei and their American-born children (Nisei) later found more settled work in agriculture, notably growing vegetables and berries, and in running small business ..read more

BY CORINNE KENNEDY The elegant ivory white flowers of Rhododendron ‘Unique’, opening from pale salmon-pink buds. (photo: Alex Monk)  The Seattle Japanese contains many “true” rhododendrons as well as azaleas (shrubs also in the genus Rhododendron). One of my favorites is Rhododendron ‘Unique’, which has long been popular in the Pacific Northwest. It has very attractive evergreen foliage and charming ivory white flowers that open from pale salmon-pink buds.  Unlike both evergreen and deciduous azaleas, the plants we recognize as “true” rhododendrons were not traditionally planted in ..read more

By Yukari Yamano The Shoseian Cleaning on March 31(Sunday) 2024 — A group of volunteers from the Urasenke Tankokai Seattle Association On April 6, we opened the Shoseian Tea House at the Garden for our first Japanese Tea Ceremony Demonstration of the 2024 season. A week prior to opening, the tea house underwent its annual spring cleaning. (Two major cleanings take place at the tea house each year: one in spring, just before the tea demonstration season starts, and the other in fall, just after the season ends.)   Helping out at the spring cleaning was a group of volunteers from the ..read more

by Yukari Yamano Kodo Araki VI playing the shakuhachi in traditional kimono attire. The shakuhachi is a vertical, end-blown, Japanese bamboo flute with a storied past. Since last year, the Seattle Japanese Garden has been actively inviting shakuhachi players to perform at its events and ceremonies. For example, Kodo Araki VI and Patrick Johnson played the shakuhachi at the 2023 Moon Viewing, while Kodo also performed at our First Viewing events both this year and last. In this blog post, I provide a brief history of the instrument—including its debut on the Western symphony stage—and spotligh ..read more

By Corinne Kennedy The Garden’s weeping willow and zigzag bridge.(photo: Mary Ann Cahill)  Experiencing the Seattle Japanese Garden has become for me a process of cultivating knowledge, introspection, and remembrance.  The Seattle Japanese Garden has reopened this month after its annual winter closure, and I’m grateful that volunteers and visitors alike can once again experience its beauty and peacefulness. Accordingly, what follows are my personal reflections about experiencing the Garden—unlike the mostly factual and objective articles that I usually submit.   As a SJG ..read more

By Yukari Yamano The Garden View from the top of the North End (Picture by David Rosen, 2017) In November 2023, the Arboretum Foundation and Seattle Parks and Recreation revealed preliminary designs for a new pavilion at the north end of the Garden. The pavilion was envisioned as part of the original Garden design back in 1959 but never realized. This blog series will explore some design principles that are being incorporated into the new viewing structure. Atsushi Ueda*, a well-known Japanese architect and scholar, once wrote about his experience living in London. When he was looking to ren ..read more

This post is the first of the Toro no Akari blog series, an oral history of the Seattle Japanese Garden as told from the perspective of those who know its every inch most intimately: the gardeners. The series reveals a little-known history of stewardship and mentoring—of alighting each other’s paths as a toro lantern would—that’s continued for over sixty years.   In this interview, Jim Thomas, former head gardener, reflects on his long-term relationship with Dick Yamasaki, who constructed the garden with designer Juki Iida in the late 1950s and upheld the garden’s vision through its maint ..read more

By Niall Dunne Seattle Parks and Recreation crew planting a cherry tree in the restored meadow. (Photo by Jose Gonzales) Last month, the garden crew from Seattle Parks and Recreation completed the final phase of the meadow restoration project in the Japanese Garden. This involved the planting of 11 beautiful new flowering cherry trees in the upper section of the meadow, which overlooks the Moon Viewing Platform by the Garden’s pond. The trees are all about 10 years old and already relatively big—between 12 and 15 feet high. The crew fork-lifted each specimen to the meadow, using heavy-duty ma ..read more

By Yukari Yamano Pictures taken at the Volunteer and Staff End of Season Party 2023 On Friday, December 8, the Seattle Japanese Garden hosted its annual Volunteer and Staff End-of-Season Party. Although we did not count the exact number of attendees, we received around 80 responses to the invitation, which made us realize the tremendous support the Garden received from our wonderful volunteers in 2023! We host this event every December after the Garden closes for the season. It is a private event, during which our volunteers can tour the Garden and experience its beauty in a more intimate fas ..read more