Visit the Garden on April 8-9 to celebrate Hana Matsuri, the Flower Festival, with ikebana by the Saga Goryu school. Hana Matsuri honors the birth of Buddha, and highlights the fleeting beauty of the delicate cherry blossom. A must see for lovers of this traditional Japanese garden art.
Reiwa 令和 “Beautiful Peace”
For this year’s Hana Matsuri at the Portland Japanese Gardens, the North America Chapter of Saga Goryu Ikebana presents Reiwa 令和 (Beautiful Peace). 令和 Reiwa is the name selected for the current Japanese Imperial reign of Emperor Naruhito, and was inspired by an 8th century poem celebrating spring. Peace — 平和 Heiwa—is also the PJG’s theme for 2020. 和 Wa is at the essence of Saga Goryu philosophy, and is also interpreted as harmony.
Saga Goryu expresses harmony through a variety of arrangements, each of which can be distilled to a complementary relationship. In and yo (in Chinese, yin and yang) are illustrated by a square within a circle: each is complete in itself but together they symbolize universal harmony. Our exhibition presents a variety of arrangements in which the circle/square in/yo duality is brought to the fore. We hope to convey the ancient and contemporary ideal of peace, through beauty—Reiwa 令和.