紅葉狩り • Momijigari (maple viewing) goes on

SJG • 10/21/15 - our magnificent lace leaf maple (acer palmatum dissectum) 

by aleks
In summer of 1973 the builder of our garden, Juki Iida, travelled to Seattle for 2 weeks and it was the first time he saw the garden 13 years after he created it...  Everyone was wondering what his reaction would be to see the garden somewhat matured and closer to what his vision for the garden was, when he built it.

SJG • 10/21/15 - Dobashi (earthen bridge) & Yatsuhasi (8-plank bridge) amids  autumn colors

Well, there is a record of what he thought, because upon return to Japan he penned an article about the garden and his experience of re-visiting it for Niwa magazine.  Julie Coryell and Shizue Prohaska recently translated that article to English, and it will be the topic of the next post;  for a teaser let's just say he found things in the garden he wasn't too wild about.

SJG • 10/27/15 - Osakazuki akame maple screening the tea house...  HI, Mary Ann Wiley, this maple was planted in your memory.

In the meantime enjoy a few pics of Momijigari progress during the last two weeks.

SJG • 10/27/15 - people resting on the bench by the katsuga style lantern 

SJG - 10/27/15 - East path of the Garden

To put you in the 1960s mood, when our Garden was created,  a song ‘Ue o muite arukou' by Kyu Sakamoto - the number one song of 1961 in Japan:

'The song was picked up in 1963, one-and-a-half years after its initial release, by a foreign record label executive visiting Japan. Later that year the song was released internationally in among others the US and the UK, making Sakamoto Japan’s internationally best known singer.' 
- See more about the artist and the song at: http://www.oneplanetoneworld.info/3589#sthash.sC8KQhzJ.dpuf