Japanese gardens in Southern California

[Anonymous]

Bonsai trees were a little bit of a mystery to me. After visiting the Huntington Gardens and viewing the bonsai trees there, I really felt like I did not understand the reasoning behind the practice at all. As I looked up more information I was so shocked to find how many different styles of bonsai trees there actually are. Also interesting is the cultural practice, technique, meditation, and whatever else, but even more exciting is the "final" product for the viewer. I did a write up under Museum visits for the Huntington Gardens that details my fascination and the never ending styles if there are any other bonsai enthusiasts.

[Anonymous]

One of the things that I remember from Middle School is the Japanese gardens and Samurais. I remember a project with did in class, we had to draw a Japanese garden and write a short story about its meaning and purpose.

[Anonymous]

When I was a student at Cal State Long Beach, I used to spent a lot of time at their Japanese garden. It was a relaxing and peaceful place to concentrate on my studies. Japanese gardens don't have much flowers, but they posses a beauty that is impressing.

[Anonymous]

I visited the Japanese garden in Balboa Park in San Diego two weekends ago. It is one of the smaller Japanese gardens I have been to but it captures the tranquility and essence of typical gardens. It was also interesting and a great tie-in for the state's current water situation that the garden was not overtly lush. The water in the pond and waterfall were also extremely low but still pretty. That particular garden looked to have many fun events that are open to the public for adults and kids each week. If only it was closer!

[Anonymous]

I find it interesting when Prof. Brown made the connection between the Vietnamese people in San Jose and their affinity toward the Japanese garden. I can now see how the Vietnamese people saw themselves and the Japanese garden as two Asian entities transplanted into a new place even though the two would probably not have any affiliation if they were in their respective countries. In their home landscaping, Vietnamese tend to favor planting tropical fruit trees for home consumption. In addition to fruit trees, some houses might collect exotic tropical flowers which are the varied species of orchids--but rarely ever any other Japanese or Chinese-origin flowers. The closest resemblance to a Japanese garden in Vietnamese landscaping is the use of miniature waterfalls connecting to a koi fish pond.

[Anonymous]

I also found Professor Brown's comments interesting regarding Asian people in California...including the comment about his study of the number of marriages occurring on the CSULB campus Japanese garden and that most included a Korean bride.

[Anonymous]

It was interesting to learn that prior to the Meiji Period and the opening of Japan to the west, Many of the gardens were abandoned. During this period we saw a resurgence and preservation of many of these gardens that were made available to the public. Based on my reading that at the turn of the 20th century, many of the gardens were built by businessmen and politicians. About half a century later, and after world war 2, the principal builders of Japanese gardens were banks, hotels, universities and government agencies. Many were designed using modern materials and as an extension of the buildings' architecture.

[Anonymous]

The gardens represent a zen - like space where on can go to meditate and observe nature. I liked when he spoke about it being a sense of pride for the Japanese immigrants who could not find work and they ended up building companies that created Japanese gardens. The gardens are beautiful and I plan to visit one soon because of this class.

[Anonymous]

Last month, my students and I went on a school field trip to Descanso Gardens. I showed them pictures of the Japanese Garden prior to the trip. My students were excited about seeing the bridge, pond, and architecture inside of the garden. Once we got there, the Japanese garden was blocked off due to filming. We tried to go around their security and makeup people to get a glimpse of the architecture, but we didn't get far. They were disappointed.

On a side note, I just checked the Huntington Library website and found out that it is free on the first Thursday of every month. It requires reservations (free for up to 5 people). Free day is booked for June, but it hasn't opened for July. I believed that it stated that it will open on June 1st for July.
edited by malvarenga on 5/27/2015

[Anonymous]

I had the opportunity to visit the Japanese garden at SCULB, this pass weekend. Always it was peaceful and beautiful. My best friend is getting married and she was looking at gardens for her ceremony. Sadly, she didn't know much about the history of Japanese gardens in America, which I was glad to give her a quick overview.

[Anonymous]

I finally have sometime to reread some of the readings and I'm able to post. As i was reading the "Diary, Sei Shonagon," I kept thinking of beautiful places. When she describes the rain and ponds, I remember how beautiful the river was in Durango, Mexico where my grandmother lives.

[Anonymous]

I also, find really interesting how she talks freely about the good and bad qualities of a lover, and how there have been times through history when women had not had the liberty.

[cgao]

Huntington Japanese Garden
http://www.huntington.org/JapaneseGarden/

Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden (CSULB)
http://web.csulb.edu/~jgarden/

Hannah Carter Japanese Garden
http://hannahcarterjapanesegarden.com/

2/2015 article about the struggle over the garden
http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ucla-japanese-garden-20150216-story.html

The Japanese Garden (Van Nuys)
http://www.thejapanesegarden.com/

James Irvine Japanese Garden
http://www.jaccc.org/jamesirvinejapanesegarden/

Descanso Gardens - Japanese Garden
https://www.descansogardens.org/explore/gardens/

Veterans' Garden (West Los Angeles)
http://www.losangeles.va.gov/patients/vetsgarden.asp

[Anonymous]

One of my neighbor's had a Japanese garden in his backyard. I remember thinking oh wow, they are such cultured people. I was impressed with how well kept it was. Once my family and I went into the garden to check it out. I was a nice experience. The garden felt peaceful and calming to me.

[Author]

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