News & Photos
Art Exhibitions
Finding Treasures Through Pottery
WRITTEN BY AKI NAKANISHI, ARLENE SCHNITZER CURATOR OF CULTURE, ART, AND EDUCATION Having been exposed to a wide range of teachings from aerospace engineering to folklore and religion during his academic years, Dr. Richard Anderson chose to live in Japan for extended periods on four occasions for a total of 12 years before settling in …
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The Autumn Moon Reflected
MUSINGS FROM DIANE DURSTON, CURATOR EMERITA What is it about the full moon in autumn? The harvest may have been good, but the hard truth is that summer is almost gone and winter is close at hand. It’s time to take time. Time that heals all things. Time to sit and watch a silent moon …
Special Events
Tea for Peace: A Cup of Humanity
In 2020, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII and designating the year’s programming under the theme of ” Year of Peace”, Portland Japanese Garden proudly returns to its founding history and seeks to offer the experience of peace through culture and nature. On September 21, the International Day of Peace, Portland Japanese …
News Releases
Portland Japanese Garden Receives National Recognition from American Society of Landscape Architects
Portland Japanese Garden has been recognized by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) with the Award of Excellence for the Cultural Crossing Project. This is the highest honor of ASLA’s professional design awards program, where each year, submissions are made by the best in landscape architecture from around the globe. The Cultural Crossing Project’s …
Cultural Festivals
O-Bon, Together in Spirit
O-Bon is a Japanese Buddhist custom and festival that commemorates and honors the spirits of the deceased. This year, we observed this tradition virtually through an Instagram livestream in hopes to bring people together in spirit for a moment of silence. While we couldn’t be together in-person, we were together in spirit.
News Releases
8 Reasons Why a Japanese Garden Might be the Escape you Need During COVID-19
Escape to Portland Japanese Garden With months of quarantine, travel restrictions, and a new way of living, it’s no wonder we’re all looking for ways to cope in the age of COVID-19. An escape to a Japanese garden like Portland Japanese Garden might be just the answer you need. Experience another country without taking a …
Garden in the News
Winner of “Best Garden” in Portland
Portland Japanese Garden has won first place in the “Best Garden” category of Willamette Week’s 2020 Best of Portland Readers Poll. With over 240,000 votes cast, we are honored to be recognized by our community and hope to continue to serve as a place of peace and respite right here in Portland. Read the full …
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Kyoto’s Gion Festival: Warding Off Epidemics for 1150 years
MUSINGS FROM DIANE DURSTON, CURATOR EMERITA For over eleven centuries, Gion Matsuri, one of the oldest and largest continuously celebrated urban festivals in the world, has filled the humid days and nights of mid-July in Kyoto with a powerful spiritual energy. Matsuri, the word for festival in Japanese, comes from the word matsuru, which means …