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NAJA 2018 International Conference
Japan’s Gift to the World – Japanese Gardens as Global Phenomenon
Portland Hilton Hotel | Sept 29 – Oct 1, 2018
Optional tours before and after the conference
An international gathering of Japanese garden professionals, enthusiasts, academics and students to address our shared challenges in creating, adapting, renovating, maintaining and restoring Japanese gardens around the world. The conference will feature speakers, panels and hands-on workshops in gardening skills. Spend three days in vibrant downtown Portland with abundant museums, gardens, restaurants, shops, parks, and mass-transit. Some events will also be held at the renowned Portland Japanese Garden. More info: https://najga.org/2018-international-conference/
Japanese Garden Handbook available online.
Members of Japanese Gardening Organization now have access to this complete encyclopedic work online. For more information or to subscribe, please visit https://japanesegardening.org/handbook/register.
With 5 volumes, 48 chapters and thousands of pages, along with hundreds of high quality photographs in this work, a printed version was too costly. This digital format keeps with the ultimate goal of a Japanese garden ‘WIKI’ - a dynamic and ever-evolving resource like no other. This is a wonderful development and certainly a fitting application of Andrew’s work. And with this WIKI format, we hope to see members submit more content and additions to be considered. For questions, contact JGO at info@japanesegardening.org.
Japanese Gardens in the News:
Shofuso Japanese House- 4:44
with Kim Andrews, Executive Director
2018 Waza to Kokoro (Hands and Heart) Seminar Series
Registration now open for the 2018 seminar series –
Waza to Kokoro (Hands and Heart) is the main program of the Portland Japanese Garden’s International Japanese Garden Training Center. It is a certificate program consisting of three intensive training seminars, combining hands-on technical learning with cultural instruction and theoretical knowledge. Waza to Kokoro is designed to help Japanese gardens serving communities across North America to find authentic, locally-appropriate solutions in design, construction, maintenance, and preservation. Admission is also open to landscape design and construction professionals and students of landscape-related disciplines. This seminar, offered in 2018 at the beginner and intermediate levels, focuses on stonework taught in the traditional hands-on method offered in the context of the culture of the way of tea – an immersive learning experience of not just the techniques but the cultural heart of the Japanese garden.
Professionals working at Japanese gardens open to the public receive a significant discount from the course tuition. For more information or to apply, go to: https://japanesegarden.org/thecenter/waza-kokoro-seminar/ To see a video with highlights of previous seminars: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t012eXZKXgA&t=131s Image by Jonathan Ley.
Pushing The Line – A Theoretical Approach to Raking a Karesansui Garden
“Daitokuji” copyright 2005 datigz and made available under an Attribution-Non-Commercial Share Alike Licence 2.0
Imagine that someone has wiped clean the pattern in the gravel at Ryoanji and handed you the rake with the instructions, “Make whatever pattern you think best.” What pattern would you rake? What patterns wouldn’t you dare to rake, and why not? What would you do in this situation? In Part II of the treatise on raking the sands of karesansui, Martin McKellar and Andrew R. Deane describe a journey of discovery, both personal and professional, in pursuit of understanding the meaning and methods of raking the sands of karesansui.
JGO welcomes submissions of articles and essays for consideration. Send to development@japanesegardening.org.
See also the article on a private Japanese garden under
the FEATURE PROJECT tab.
The Japanese Garden of Terry Gerlach
Besides participating in Japanese Gardening Organization’s forums and managing the event calendar, Terry also volunteers for Portland’s Japanese Garden and is an avid Japanese gardener himself. In the late 1990’s, he was presented with what he refers to as “an opportunity” when construction on a nearby road destroyed his entire landscape. Take a tour of Terry’s garden and watch a short video on the maintenance of his garden at
The Japanese Garden of Terry Gerlach.
Japanese Gardening Reference
Learn how to tie a knot for bamboo fences, or decide what tools you need. JGO Reference section includes articles on theory, design and how-to’s on construction, plants, pruning, lanterns, stones, garden terminology and more.
Japanese Gardening Forums
15,000 entries by 800 Japanese Gardening enthusiasts around the world. The Japanese Garden Forum discussion boards include history, design & construction, maintenance, plants, stone, water, bamboo fences, structures, and more.
Events & Education
Learn how to work with bamboo, prune pines, or build a Japanese garden in events around the world in the events calendar and via discussions in the Japanese gardening forums.
Japanese Garden Search
Discover Japanese gardens on almost every continent in this comprehensive database. Search by keywords to narrow your hunt. Includes location, garden info, photos and more.
Japanese Garden Publications
Building a library or just researching how to build your dry landscape? Search books and publications on Japanese gardening here. You can also find reviews on Japanese gardening books and purchase them with a percentage going to support JGO at no addition cost!
Japanese Garden Marketplace
Find Japanese garden tools, garden designers, contractors and suppliers in this resource. Remember that by using these links and contractors, you are contributing to Japanese Gardening Organization and helping it grow.
Special Sections
Chaji - A Formal Tea Ceremony
A wonderful five part series on the “Way of Tea” by Elliot Mitchnick, Associate Professor of Urasenke, the 400 year old tradition of Tea headquartered in Kyoto, Japan is presented in Chaji, A Formal Tea Ceremony. (If you have Japanese enabled on your browser, you will see most tea terms with their kanji. In addition, most terms have definitions available by holding your mouse over the word.)
Ka-tei, Japanese Architecture, Japanese Garden
The essential relationship between architecture and garden is discussed in Ka-tei, Japanese Architecture, Japanese Garden. Japanese carpenter, Chris Hall, gives an overview of the relationships between house and garden in traditional Japanese residential architecture. (If you have Japanese enabled on your browser, you will see most terms with their kanji, and most terms have definitions available by holding your mouse over the word.)
Japanese Architecture-Japanese Garden
Sister City Garden Virtual Tour
A profile of a sister city garden, Kumamoto En Japanese Garden, created in partnership with Japanese designers and craftsmen and US craftsmen. This is a detailed walking tour with the names and descriptions of the garden features linked to definitions, English, Romaji, and Kanji names as well.
Kumamoto-en, Sister City Garden
Japanese Gardens - Notes on Perspectives, Perceptions & Synthesis
In his article, Japanese Gardens: Notes on Perspectives, Perceptions & Synthesis, Andrew R. Deane shares his thoughts on how to “see” a Japanese Garden.
Perspective, Perceptions, & Synthesis
Doubt ...
Japanese garden designer, Mark Bourne, reflects on his experience as apprentice to a Master gardener in Kyoto in “DOUBT, Learning to see the Japanese Garden.“
US Japanese Gardens Tour
K.T. Cannon-Eger and husband Bill traveled by rail across the United States to visit dozens of Japanese Gardens. Follow their adventure in their blog U.S. Japanese Gardens
Thanks to these Japanese Gardening Organization sponsors -
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The Japanese Gardening Organization (JGO) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization spreading the benefits of Japanese gardening for individuals, groups, communities, and society. JGO provides educational resources to foster the exchange of culture, knowledge, appreciation and application of Japanese gardening, striving for the highest level of accurate information and resources for Japanese gardening. This organization is supported completely by donations. Your gifts are tax deductible.