The Portland Japanese Garden, designed in 1962, combines four different garden styles into one cohesive whole: the Strolling Pond Garden, the Dry Landscape Garden, the Flat Garden, and the Tea Garden—making it a classic.
This is my second visit to the garden after nine years. What has changed? Let’s take a look and explore the fine details of Japanese garden design.
If you’re a garden enthusiast, this video may be of help to you.
[Music] This Japanese garden is located on a hill within Washington Park. Before reaching the main gate of the garden, this section of the stream has disappeared, exposing the waterproofed foundation and stacked stones. These stones are not randomly piled up. They are carefully arranged to imitate the form of a flowing stream, artificially stacked to create a landscape that appears naturally formed. [Music] This is the main gate of the garden. The Japanese garden was designed in 1962 by Professor Takuma Tono of Tokyo Agricultural University. [Music] After entering the main gate, you can clearly feel that the plants and garden stones are maintained with greater care. Look at the combination of these three types of stone. It creates an orderly yet rich visual variation. [Applause] The stone inlays set into the concrete ground are quite labor intensive. It looks like the branches of the plants were pruned not long ago. Pruning is very important in Japanese gardens. Removing branches that disrupt the overall form so that the beauty of the plant’s natural lines becomes more prominent and simplified. Weeding is also an essential daily task in the upkeep of a Japanese garden. Oregon’s moist air allows moss and similar vegetation to thrive quite well. The spacing between the plants also feels very comfortable. Thisma, the breathing space between objects, creates a sense of connection yet also separation. This garden incorporates four different styles of Japanese gardens. Each one represents a different historical school of Japanese garden architecture. The strolling pond garden, the karasansui, the flat garden, and the tea garden. This rest pavilion is an exquisite example of Japanese architecture. What matters most in Japanese architecture and gardens is the attention to detail in design and craftsmanship. At here you can enjoy matcha and other beverages. Japanese tea utensils are like icons in American popular culture. Highly recognizable symbols. symbols that have represented the way of tea from ancient times to the present. In the next video, we’ll take a look at American culture icons. The aim here is not to practice the refined precision of tea ceremony utensils, but rather to let visitors from different places experience the tools and ways of preparing tea. This way of drinking matcha disappeared from China after the Song Dynasty. [Music] Portland in July is still somewhat hot and humid, so sitting on the terrace with an iced drink feels truly pleasant. The modern minimalist staircase with straight lines along with glass contrast with the garden stones and flowing water. This kind of architecture with clean bow lines is a western reinterpretation of ancient wooden temple architecture, changing the materials and construction methods, but preserving the ancient understanding of space. This is the DT Suzuki Museum in Canazawa. Doesn’t it share a similar visual language? This sculpture feels like the Chinese character for water shay. On this interior wall, every wooden plank was carved by hand with a chisel to create undulating surfaces. Under the light, it refracts in different ways, like ripples on water. In Japanese architecture and gardens, the time-consuming craftsmanship is often hidden in these subtle details. Notice how the stone arrangements at the the bottom of the water and along the right side wall echo one another. Passing through the Nezu gate, you enter the flat garden, something usually found only at temples. The Mortis antenna wooden structure has been wonderfully preserved in Portland. If it were in Southern California, the scorching sun would have already warped the wood. The thick moss growing on the eaves looks quite charming. Japanese gardens are all about creating visual contrasts with different materials. It makes you feel the passage of time. This flat garden is similar to a Japanese hojo garden. The wooden railings now show clearer traces of age. I remember when I came here 9 years ago, they weren’t this evident. This room in the building was originally meant for Buddhist rituals. [Music] Summer in Portland is, after all, still summer. The moss is now going through the harshest season of the year. [Music] This photo was taken in October 2016. Back then, the plants were well-maintained with good form and layers of texture. Now, in the summer, things look a bit different. That is one of the meanings of time itself. The effects of climate are especially visible on wood. [Music] Next, we head toward the tea garden. The moss in this area has grown beautifully. I especially love how the moss wraps around the garden stones quietly showing you the power of time. Within a single space, visitors from all over the world can experience several different types of Japanese gardens. The designer wanted people in one visit to gain as much understanding as possible of the various traditions of Japanese garden culture. The winding paths here with flowing water bring a sense of vitality, conveying the refined aesthetic sensibility of the garden’s creator. Personally, I really enjoy this strolling garden. The rhythmic arrangement of stones and the careful pruning of plants are both excellent. The entire garden is situated on a hillside. I heard this place used to be a zoo. Transporting all these stones, slabs, and timber up the hill. And constructing the garden here must have been incredibly difficult. Cranes and excavators would hardly reach this height. The garden required immense manual labor, a long and arduous process because I once built a Japanese garden in my own backyard. I understand how tough the process is. Here, people wander along the winding paths surrounded by plants and streams. It feels as if your ego has already opened up and been set aside, merging with nature. Where there is too much sunlight, it’s more difficult to maintain the moss. Some people may think that garden stones are placed randomly. But in fact, their arrangement reflects the gardener’s deep understanding of beauty. From different angles, the stone compositions must express the designer’s philosophical vision and aesthetic experience. In Japanese gardens and architecture, details often lie in places that seem unintentional. [Music] For example, the sharp corners of a pillar’s edge are carefully chiseled by hand. You may ask why? Because being too direct is not something favored in Japanese culture. And this also helps prevent damage from knocks and collisions over time. It also adds layers of visual variation. You can imagine how challenging it must have been to transport these stones and plants and construct the wooden structures on this hillside. [Music] The arrangement of stones along the entire pathway is richly varied and connects so naturally that you almost don’t even notice it. Think about how much time the workers spent on this. The winding paths viewed from different angles add layers and depth to the landscape. The shapes and volumes of adjacent stones are all different. The source of the water flow is usually hidden. From low to high, you enter the tea garden. The stone steps along the pathway are made by piecing together many individual stones for each tier. This building is the Thai eye where guests of the tea ceremony wait to be received by the host. [Music] The curved arrangement of stones connects the square concrete ground with the surrounding environment. [Music] As the path rises and falls, the space gains even more variation. Pay attention to the variations in the combination of stone slabs and steps. The width of the steps has been increased, making walking more comfortable. Before [Music] entering the tea room, guests stop here to cleanse their hands and mouths. These large stones are very beautiful. The fences made with alternating wooden slats and boards show some signs of age. In Japanese garden design, creating the garden is only half the work. The other half is maintenance. Removing weeds, trimming branches and leaves. In such a large garden, the amount of work is considerable. Time is needed to maintain a refined visual experience. Notice these small details. [Music] Plants are used to block the view of the dry landscape garden from the entrance. Now turning around, you can see the Carsoni garden. 9 years later, I am seeing this caress sui again. Bamboo roots are extremely aggressive. I imagine there must be some protection under the soil so the roots won’t spread outward. This area showcases a waterless garden, a caress sooie garden. Sometimes understanding between cultures can be very difficult. Even now, many westerners still think Zan is just meditation or yoga. Many years ago, DT Suzuki introduced Zen Buddhism to the Western world, allowing more people to understand its wisdom. Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, was one of the few Americans who deeply grasped the essence of Zen. In my personal view, the stones in this caransui seemed somewhat compromised in size because transporting large stones on this hillside would have been very difficult. Now, some of the stones feel a bit small. The wave-shaped boundaries made of beautiful Japanese tiles are stunning. After many years, time has carved its marks in the garden. The walls are weathered and cracks have appeared. This is now 2025. This is the Kasangui garden from 2016. From the Caransui, we now enter a true landscape garden with water. Can you feel the sense of Jugan? That subtle profound beauty. What’s interesting about Japanese culture is how it incorporates the poetic sensibility of China and fuses it with Zen, allowing people to experience the transient power of time. Here’s another style of stone steps along the pathway, adding visual variation to the landscape within the same area. [Music] The finely crafted bamboo fence Takagaki exquisite. Inside is the tea ceremony space for receiving guests. The design features an open space with rooms within rooms allowing visitors to experience the atmosphere of the tea ceremony environment. The garden of this tea room is not open to the public. Here is another T-room space. Another type of tie-ey waiting area [Music] and yet another style of pathway paving. Within a single area, different treatments of surfaces and floors are displayed. It has been a long time since I last saw moss on the plants. [Music] This gate is made of wood and bamboo. Passing through this gate, you enter another Japanese garden with a pond. probably because it’s quite warm during the summer. The water in this koi pond is quite murky and even has a slight odor. [Music] Americans also really like koi, you know. [Music] [Applause] What do you think about Oh my god. [Music] I’m not entirely sure if these are planted irises. [Music] This is what it looks like now in 2025. And this is how it looked in 2016. Part changed a lot. Japanese gardens weave time into their essence. You can watch how plants change with the seasons, how moss spreads throughout the garden. There’s no eternity, no perfection. This kind of shishodoshi device is very interesting. It was originally used in agriculture to scare away animals. In the garden, it adds even more to the quiet, subtle atmosphere of you, general. Thank you for watching. See you next time. [Music]
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