Japanese Gardens

Japanese Gardens have a long history of implementing specific design principles to achieve contemplation and contentment. When I was attending a local Japanese Buddhist temple, I learned the traditional methods for trimming Black Pines, also known as Niwaki. In my time volunteering, I enjoyed the meditation of gardening, focusing on one task, and removing waste to reveal beauty.

Other Japanese gardens in Los Angeles are famous due to the influence of Dr. Koichi Kawana. He designed the botanical garden at LACMA, taught architecture and landscape design at UCLA, and created the Suiho En Japanese Garden in Van Nuys.

Here his design principles are evident with winding paths, meditation spaces, and a variety of natural elements. Positive outcomes of this nature therapy can be understood in his motto, “Simplicity means the achievement of maximum effect with minimal means”.

This garden was also designed to be adjacent to a water reclamation plant. Their website states that “The garden’s purpose was to demonstrate a positive use of reclaimed water in what is generally agreed to be a delicate environment, a Japanese Garden.”

The administration building, designed by Anthony J. Lumsden, is also portrayed as an environmental design of the future, recognized as the structure from Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 1 episode 7, titled “Justice.”

The Japanese Garden leads us away from freeway traffic, pressures, and haste into a calm space where we can focus on the beauty of both nature and our lives.

February 17th, 2024