Portland: Japanese Garden

The Portland Japanese Garden is a traditional Japanese garden occupying 5.5 acres located within Washington Park in the west hills of Portland, Oregon. The garden was designed by Professor Takuma Tono beginning in 1963, though the garden opened to the public in 1967. The garden has five major subgardens, each of a different degree of formality:

Flat Garden
Flat Garden is notable for its expansiveness. Encircling the hundred-floormat Pavilion hall, this is the most formal of the five gardens. Deep evergreen foliage contrasts with white shirakawa sand raked in careful patterns representing water. The seascape of sand and its prized plantings evoke each of the four seasons. This is a garden of complete, meditative balance.



Strolling Pond Garden
Is the largest and contains multiple areas. In one, the path has rocks arranged as the constellation Big Dipper. Another has an antique multi tiered pagoda lantern, a gift from Portland's sister city of Sapporo with ornamental rocks forming the shape of Hokkaidō island and a red stone for Sapporo. Several ornate or whimsical bridges cross the creeks between ponds.


Tea Garden
The pathway to our ceremonial Tea House, called Kashin Tei or Flower Heart House, is lined by two little gardens. The outer garden (soto roji) contains an old-fashioned well and a sheltered waiting station for the Tea Ceremony. The inner garden (uchi roji) surrounds the Tea House in a humble, secluded atmosphere.



Natural Garden
The Natural Garden features multiple ponds, waterfalls and streams. Trees, shrubs, ferns and mosses grow in their natural state. Along the path, visitors will come upon a carved-stone roadside guardian. This figure is Jizo, the kindly Bodhisattva who protects travelers, children, and all those in need.


Sand and Stone Garden
The Sand and Stone Garden features weathered stones rising from rippled sand suggestive of the ocean. The tranquil rake patterns are often seen in dry gardens known as karesansui in Japanese. The most abstract of Japanese garden forms, the Sand and Stone Garden reveals the stark simplicity of weathered stones rising from a sea of raked sand. This garden style is typically found in Zen monasteries.




Japanese Garden