Posts in Japanese Culture
Stories of Pacific Northwest Issei Artists Who Achieved Recognition in the Years Before World War II—PART TWO: Takuichi Fujii
Stories of Pacific Northwest Issei Artists Who Achieved Recognition in the Years Before World War II—PART TWO: Takuichi Fujii

The Life and Work of Takuichi Fujii

In a new blog series, Corinne Kennedy writes about three Japanese artists who lived and worked in early 20th-century Seattle. By the 1930s, their paintings were winning recognition and awards. However, World War II upended their lives, and until recently their work was largely erased from local art history. Part Two of the series features artist Takuichi Fujii. 

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Japanese Culture, Visual ArtYukari Yamanotakuichi fujii, Japanese issei, japanese artist, minidoka, WWII, japanease painter, issei
Gardens for Peace and the Stolen Statue at Seattle’s Peace Park
Gardens for Peace and the Stolen Statue at Seattle’s Peace Park

On August 10, during our next Family Saturday event, the Seattle Japanese Garden will participate in a North American Japanese Garden Association’s Gardens for Peace community project. Garden visitors will be able to draw a peace pattern—designed by Hiroshima-based artist Toshiko Tanaka—on special calligraphy scrolls in remembrance of those who died in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings. The Gardens for Peace project symbolizes our commitment to avoiding past mistakes and maintaining world peace, now and in the future.

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Japanese CultureYukari YamanoSeattle Peace Park, peace park, sadako, hiroshima, hiroshima bombing, world peace, seattle japanese garden, origami crane, cranes, origami
Spring Cleaning: Replacing the Paper Shoji Screen at the Shoseian Tea House
Spring Cleaning: Replacing the Paper Shoji Screen at the Shoseian Tea House

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.) Read more…

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Chado, Garden Maintenance, Japanese CultureYukari Yamanoteahouse, shoji, shojiscreen, akarishoji, seattle japanese garden, spring cleaning
Shakuhachi: A Traditional Japanese Musical Instrument with a Spiritual Side
Shakuhachi: A Traditional Japanese Musical Instrument with a Spiritual Side

In this blog post, you will find out a brief history of the instrument—including its debut on the Western symphony stage—and spotlight Kaoru Kakizakai, a master shakuhachi player from Japan. Kaoru will perform in the Garden on Friday, March 29, 2024, and we hope to inspire you to come and enjoy the music.

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Events, In the Garden, Japanese CultureYukari Yamanoshakuhachi, music in the garden, japanese music, japanese traditional music, bamboo flute
Public Meeting Report: the Japanese Garden North Wall and Pavilion Project
Public Meeting Report: the Japanese Garden North Wall and Pavilion Project

On November 16, the Arboretum Foundation and Seattle Parks and Recreation co-hosted a public meeting at the Graham Visitors Center focused on the Japanese Garden North Wall and Pavilion Project. Representatives from Berger Partnership and Hoshide Wanzer Architects presented designs plans for this Master Plan project, which reconstructs the crumbling stone wall at the north end of the pond, modifies the pathways in this area to improve accessibility, and adds a new pavilion-like structure that was originally envisioned by the Garden’s designer, Juki Iida, back in 1959, but never realized. The designers answered questions from the meeting attendees and gathered feedback on the potential uses of the structure.

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Fall, From Home, Japanese CultureGuest Userfall, books, Japanese culture