Japanese garden pond
We didn't even feel the earthquake because we were driving. But everybody else in Portland has tales to tell, although there has been no damage here.
Japanese garden pond
A dedicated gardener could spend many days happily hunting gardens in this city. We climbed a steep hill through Washington Park past the Rose Garden (still too early) to the Japanese Garden.
This garden was established in 1967. The plantings, from large trees to the smallest plants, have had plenty of time to mature and settle. Pathways lead in several directions, up and down hills, past pools (we saw one small carp), waterfalls, benches, cement ornaments and bamboo fountains. As in the Chinese garden, each few steps brought a new, lovely view.
Two dry gardens were immaculately groomed, with ridges of gravel bordered by shrubs and plants. Other garden spots provided a dramatic view over the city skyscrapers, with Mount Hood, as always, in the distance, today a Mount Fuji look-alike.
Japanese dry garden
The Japanese in the Pacific Northwest have had a tough history. The first immigrants, the Issei, were laborers in fish canneries and on the railroads. In 1891 more than 1000 Japanese men were here; no families were allowed. By 1907 further immigration was prohibited but families were allowed to join the men already here. Nevertheless, a Japanese community in Portland was established. During World War II they were interned, in California and Idaho, and consequently lost most of their property. After the war many Portland area Japanese returned to their former homes here, but the neighborhood never re-established itself; instead, Japanese families moved into several different areas and became dispersed into the general community.
What brought about the establishment of this glorious garden? It would be an interesting story, to say the least.