Extend your garden journey by browsing original articles on a variety of related topics.
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…
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreDid you know that Japanese people tend to value south-facing rooms more than north-facing ones? Find out why on our blog, and read about how the new Japanese Garden pavilion is being designed to provide a south-facing overlook of the pond. Read More...
Read MoreOn 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.
Read MoreCalled 読書の秋 (dokusho no aki) in Japanese, the colder days and longer nights of fall beckon us to read. Blog contributor Corinne Kennedy has compiled an eclectic list of thirteen titles, including eleven books for children and younger teens.
Read MoreEnjoy the wonderful Haiku written by the participants of the Moon Viewing 2023. Judged on Friday, September 1st by David Berger and Michael Dylan Welch. Judged on Saturday, September 2nd by Terran Campbell and Michael Dylan Welch.
Read MoreWabi-Sabi is a Japanese aesthetic ideal often considered together with Zen Buddhism. It is composed of two words, Wabi (侘) and Sabi (寂). Sabi is materialistic forms of imperfection and impermanence and Wabi comes from spiritual fullness and positive mindset to embrace the imperfect world of Sabi. I would like to explore the Wabi-Sabi world with you. First Let’s look at Sabi.
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