Experience the Magic of Moon Viewing in the Garden
Photo from 2021 Moon Viewing
This year, we are enhancing your night walk experience in our Japanese stroll garden, drawing inspiration from the beautiful tradition of autumn garden illuminations in Japan. Join us for two enchanting nights at the Seattle Japanese Garden's Moon Viewing event, where the garden comes alive with the soft glow of lanterns and luminaries, evoking the serene and mystical atmosphere of fall evenings in Japan.
As your evening begins, you’ll be serenaded by the soothing sounds of shakuhachi, played by Araki Kodō VI, setting a tranquil tone for the night. The Joan Laage/Kogut Butoh dancing group will also mystify the garden with their ethereal movements, adding a touch of grace and magic to the early evening. As the sun sets, the garden will be illuminated by luminaries on the ground and lanterns in the trees, creating a magical ambiance. This year, we are adding a special touch: Pete Putnicki, our senior gardener, will light up the trees, adding an extra layer of enchantment to the setting.
After sunset, the experience will be further enriched by music from Paul Kikuchi, who will reimagine and bring to life traditional Japanese songs—Robb Kunz will install the music in the Garden, adding a timeless and evocative soundscape to your evening. You can also get creative at our Haiku station, where you can write your own haiku inspired by the evening. Additionally, the Seattle Astronomical Society will bring a telescope, offering you the chance to view the moon, weather permitting, and adding an extra layer of wonder to your visit.
This special event is designed to let you enjoy the garden as it transitions from twilight to night, mirroring the captivating experience of Japanese gardens lit up during the autumn season.
Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of a truly magical evening.
What you need to know before coming to the Moon Viewing event
Garden Light-Up
Pete Putnicki:
Pete Putnicki (he/him) is a garden maker specializing in Japanese aesthetics and techniques. Currently the Senior Gardener at Seattle Japanese Garden, he has spent over thirty years working on residential and commercial garden installation and maintenance, with an increasing emphasis on design, construction, and arboriculture.
In addition to his skilled hands and keen eyes, Pete is sought out for his expert knowledge and professional training experience. He’s been the assistant instructor at Portland Japanese Garden’s pine pruning workshop and a presenter at the 2021 North American Japanese Garden Association’s National Conference. Pete has taught one of the most-requested Japanese gardening workshops at Plant Amnesty.
A history enthusiast, Pete enjoys speaking about the evolution of garden styles in Japan. He spends many hours every week learning about how people, culture, and the natural environments have interacted to shape our world.
Music
Kodo Araki VI:
For six generations, the Araki family has carried the Kodō name and its perspective on the tradition of Kinko-Ryū shakuhachi. Named for his great-great grandfather, Hanzaburō, or Hanz as he’s commonly known, made his professional debut in 1988 in Shimonoseki, Japan where he was given the name Baikyoku by his father, Kodō Araki V. He attained the name Kodō at his father’s retirement ceremony in Tokyo in 2009.
Kodō performed and taught in Japan until 1992 when he returned to the United States and shifted his focus almost entirely to performing. Notable appearances include The Newport Folk Festival, The Vancouver Folk Festival, Celtic Connections in Glasgow, Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto, The Gates Estate, and was a featured soloist for The Seattle Symphony “Celebrate Asia” concert in 2013. He was also invited to perform and speak at the Interdependence Day Celebration in Mexico City and The Future of Music Coalition conference in Rio de Janeiro. He was also the recipient of a Maine Traditional Arts Fellowship in 2021.
Joan Laage/Kogut Butoh:
Seattle resident and DAIPANbutoh Collective member, Joan Laage’s work focuses on butoh, a contemporary avant-garde dance form which erupted out of the turmoil and loss of identity of post WWII Japan. Hijikata Tatsumi, known as the principle founder, created the first butoh piece in 1959. Butoh’s co-founder Ohno Kazuo, along with his son Yoshito, performed in Seattle in the 1990s.
Butoh combines dance, theater, improvisation and influences of Japanese traditional performing arts with German Expressionist dance (Neue Tanz) and performance art to create a unique performing art form that is both controversial and universal in its expression. The butoh dancer is commonly painted in white and inspired by nature imagery in all its beauty and grotesquerie. Butoh has evolved to become an international art form with artists and groups devoted to teaching and performing it throughout the world.
Joan studied in Tokyo with the Ohnos and Hijikata’s protégé Ashikawa in the late 80s and performed with Ashikawa’s second company Gnome and is known as a NW butoh pioneer.
Paul Kikuchi:
Paul Kikuchi (he/him) heard Ella Fitzgerald in concert from the womb and was born the next day. He shares a birthday with Prince. Paul’s music is wide ranging - from drone/ambient soundscapes to compositions for traditional Japanese instruments. His interests in community, identity, and activism inform his creative process. His work has been supported by the National Endowment of the Arts, Chamber Music America, and New Music USA, among others.
Paul is tenured music faculty at South Seattle College. As an educator he is committed to the decolonization of music curricula and the cultivation of life-long connections to music. He lives in Seattle.
Robb Kunz:
Robb Kunz is a sound artist and engineer from Oklahoma. His work consists of handmade electronics and kinetic elements made from repurposed materials. When activated, they broadcast elaborate compositions, acoustically activating a space to seem suddenly alive, as if another geography, dimension, or history is leaking through.
Haiku
Michael Dylan Welch:
Michael Dylan Welch likes to be surprised by empathy and gratitude in haiku. He has been active with haiku for more than 40 years, and joined the Haiku Society of America in 1987. He founded his press, Press Here, in 1989, edited Woodnotes from 1989 to 1997, and Tundra from 1998 to 2001. He currently coedits First Frost and serves as haiku editor for Pulse: Voices from the Heart of Medicine. Michael cofounded the Haiku North America conference in 1991 and the American Haiku Archives in 1996, and founded the Seabeck Haiku Getaway in 2008 and National Haiku Writing Month (www.nahaiwrimo.com) in 2010. Michael has won first place in the Henderson, Brady, Drevniok, and Tokutomi haiku contests, among others, and his poems, essays, and reviews have appeared in hundreds of publications, translated into more than twenty languages. He served two terms as Redmond poet laureate, curates SoulFood Poetry Night, and is president of the Redmond Association of Spokenword. Michael has published 76 books, mostly haiku. His website, also devoted mostly to haiku, is www.graceguts.com.