Our New Art Exhibition Featuring Botanical Illustrations

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Event

Gifts from Japan: A Horticultural Tale Told through Botanical Art

May 14th - July 4th, 2022

Event

Extended Member Hours

Thursday May 19th, 6:30pm-8:30pm PDT

Event

Cultural Performance: Koto Harp

May 20, 2022

Event

Extended Member Hours

Thursday May 19th, 6:30pm-8:30pm PDT

Event

Cultural Performance: Koto Harp

May 20, 2022

2022

The Year in Festivals

This present moment
that lives on
to become
long ago

– Gary Snyder

Portland Japanese Garden on Instagram

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Hello! This is Justin, assistant manager of the Admissions team. I'm continuing my weeklong Portland Japanese Garden social media takeover, sharing my original thoughts and photos about the Garden.

As you explore the Garden, you may find you need to carefully watch before taking each step and place each foot intentionally in order to stay on the path. I love so much the effect this creates! It reminds me of hiking through natural trails, where fallen limbs and uneven terrain naturally cause you to attune yourself more to the world around you.

This is a man-made environment but, similarly to a walk though wild nature, the uneven path keeps you focused and receptive to what is around you. The trick of the Japanese Garden is to take the mystery and rejuvenating effects of nature and make them feel closer and more accessible to you, so you can walk away renewed.

See you again tomorrow!

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Hi, it's Justin from the Portland Japanese Garden Admissions team, continuing my weeklong takeover of Portland Japanese Garden social media with more thoughts and original photos.

We sometimes tell guests who are new to the Garden to treat what they are about to see as a "living museum." Like a museum, it is a highly sensitive and culturally valuable environment that is carefully tended by its patrons and caretakers. I loved visiting museums in my childhood because of how inspiring it was to see how much beauty it is possible to create with enough time, talent, and vision.

In this case, what is on display is a scaled-down, idealized vision of nature. Just as great painters idealize their images by manipulating colors, materials, and composition in their work, great gardeners manipulate the effect they create for visitors through placement of stones and plants, pruning, and shifting the visible perspective for visitors walking through.

I hope you enjoy this glimpse of our living museum I’ve shared! See you again tomorrow.

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