Japanese gardens outside of Japan number more than 450, of which approximately 300 are in North America. Of that substantial number, fewer than 20 have reached the centennial mark. In this issue, six gardens across the continental United States and out into the Pacific were asked to share their centennial stories. 

Book Review - "One Hundred Years in the Huntington's Japanese Garden: 

Harmony With Nature"

Book reviewer - Dr. Jill Raggett, NTF; Edited by: June T. Li; Contributors - Kendall H. Brown, James Folsom, Naomi Hirahara, Robert Hori, Kelly Sutherlin McLeod

"Every historic garden should have a book like this, a publication that brings together the physical and archival evidence about a designed landscape in a readable and engaging form. This book uncovers the stories of the origins, creators and on-going appreciation and use of the Huntington's Japanese Garden following a year-long closure during which a $6.8 million renovation was undertaken... The garden reopened in April 2012 to mark its centennial as a beloved and iconic landscape in Pasadena, California."

Maymont: A Victorian Estate's Japanese Garden, 1912 

Carla Murray

"Maymont, a 100-acre estate in Richmond Virginia, celebrated the centennial anniversary of its Japanese garden in 2012 with a year-long series of programs and events...Japanese gardens were among the favorite showplaces for Gilded Age showplaces such as Maymont, so it is no surprise that James and Sallie Dooley employed Japanese garden makers to plant such a landscape in the wedge-shaped section of land, adjacent to the Kanawha Canal, which they purchased in 1911."

Brooklyn Botanic Garden: Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, 1915

Brian Funk

"In 2015, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden commemorates the centennial anniversary of the Japanese Hill and Pond Garden. The garden, initiated with a gift from philanthropist Alfred T. White (1846-1921), opened to the public on June 6, 1915. Serving as a landmark for the borough of Brooklyn and containing a rather dramatic history, this garden is among the earliest public Japanese gardens in the United States. It is a beloved garden for urbanites trying to escape the clamor of the city. It also is popular as a home to many koi, turtles, ducks, and occasionally, herons."

San Diego, California: The Japanese Friendship Garden

Marisa Takeuchi

"The Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego, California got its start in a different location at Balboa Park as a tea house for the 1915 Panama California Exposition. Starting several years ago, the garden embarked on a major expansion to increase its size to more than eleven acres by clearing the ravine behind the present garden. Since then, a waterfall and stream have been installed. 'Pink Cloud' and other cherry trees planted in a new grove bloom annually for a festival begun nine years ago...." 

Hakone Estate and Gardens in Saratoga, CA Celebrate Centennial in 2015

Lon Saavedra

"In 1915, San Francisco philanthropists Oliver (1877-1918) and Isabel Stine (1880-1959) purchased land to establish a mountainside retreat for their family, international dignitaries, and friends of the art...The following year, Mrs. Stine sailed to Japan, where she visited various historic gardens...Upon her return to America, Mrs. Stine began work on a Japanese-style country estate and gardens in Saratoga on an eighteen-acre hillside...Hakone is one of the historic crown jewels of the Silicon Valley with a rich history of cultural events and celebrations throughout the past century." 

Lili'Uokalani Garden in Hilo: A Century-Old Tapestry Woven of Many Threads

K.T. Cannon-Egers

"Lili'uokalani Gardens in Hilo, Hawai'i resulted from the collaboration of several women: the Queen after her rule was overthrown, an immigrant Japanese women's society, and a Caucasian whose travels to Japan left her deeply smitten with Japanese gardens... Preparations are being made for the dual centennials in 2017 of the passing of Queen Lili'uokalani and her namesake garden...Hilo is so fortunate to have a living work of art adjacent to the ocean and with a view of the majestic Mauna Kea."