Carp Pond and Stone Lantern
A peaceful, hot and humid scene in the Japanese Tea Garden, a popular feature of the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, CA. The red-leafed tree framing the stone lantern is probably a young Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) but that's a guess.
The oldest public Japanese garden in the United States (installed for the World's Fair of 1894), this complex of many paths, ponds and a teahouse features plants and trees pruned and arranged in a Japanese style. The garden's three acres contain sculptures and structures influenced by Buddhist and Shinto religious beliefs, as well as many elements of water and rocks to create a calming landscape designed to slow people down.
The stone lanterns (tōrō) seen around the garden are representative of the five elements of Buddhism. The bases of the lanterns symbolise the earth, while the next section is water, the light is fire, and the following two sections symbolise the air and spirit respectively. The lanterns as a whole symbolise the coming together of all five elements in the harmony of nature.
Despite the peaceful aspects, the racist background should not be forgotten. Makoto Hagiwara, a Japanese immigrant and gardener, was hired to manage the garden. Following his death, his daughter, Takano Hagiwara, and her children became the garden's proprietors and maintainers. With the onset of WWII and rising anti-Japanese sentiment, Takano Hagiwara and her family were evicted from the family's home and sent to an internment camp. 120,000 Japanese (two-thirds American citizens) were sent to internment camps during the war. The family were never able to return to their home (which was demolished during the war) in the garden and received no reimbursement for their eviction after the war ended. Only in 1988 did Ronald Reagan sign legislation authorising $20,000 for each surviving detainee; the legislation admitted race prejudice, war hysteria and failure of political leadership had led to the incarcerations.
Carp Pond and Stone Lantern
A peaceful, hot and humid scene in the Japanese Tea Garden, a popular feature of the Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, CA. The red-leafed tree framing the stone lantern is probably a young Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) but that's a guess.
The oldest public Japanese garden in the United States (installed for the World's Fair of 1894), this complex of many paths, ponds and a teahouse features plants and trees pruned and arranged in a Japanese style. The garden's three acres contain sculptures and structures influenced by Buddhist and Shinto religious beliefs, as well as many elements of water and rocks to create a calming landscape designed to slow people down.
The stone lanterns (tōrō) seen around the garden are representative of the five elements of Buddhism. The bases of the lanterns symbolise the earth, while the next section is water, the light is fire, and the following two sections symbolise the air and spirit respectively. The lanterns as a whole symbolise the coming together of all five elements in the harmony of nature.
Despite the peaceful aspects, the racist background should not be forgotten. Makoto Hagiwara, a Japanese immigrant and gardener, was hired to manage the garden. Following his death, his daughter, Takano Hagiwara, and her children became the garden's proprietors and maintainers. With the onset of WWII and rising anti-Japanese sentiment, Takano Hagiwara and her family were evicted from the family's home and sent to an internment camp. 120,000 Japanese (two-thirds American citizens) were sent to internment camps during the war. The family were never able to return to their home (which was demolished during the war) in the garden and received no reimbursement for their eviction after the war ended. Only in 1988 did Ronald Reagan sign legislation authorising $20,000 for each surviving detainee; the legislation admitted race prejudice, war hysteria and failure of political leadership had led to the incarcerations.