Administrative Building Tillman Water Reclamation Plant

The Japanese Garden is a public

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desi ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, located in the Lake Balboa district in the central San Fernando Valley, adjacent to the Van Nuys and Encino neighborhoods. It is specifically on the grounds of the

Tillman Water Reclamation Plant The Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant is a water reclamation plant located in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, United States. The plant was conceived of, designed and constructed by the City of Los Angeles' Bureau of Engineering. The A ...

adjacent to

Woodley Park Woodley Park is a neighborhood in Northwest, Washington, DC. It is bounded on the north by Woodley Road and Klingle Road, on the east by the National Zoo and Rock Creek Park, on the south by Calvert Street, on the southwest by Cleveland Avenue, a ...

, in the

Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area The Sepulveda Dam is a project of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers designed to withhold winter flood waters along the Los Angeles River. Completed in 1941, at a cost of $6,650,561 (), it is located south of center in the San Fernando Valley, appr ...

.Thejapanesegarden.com: The Japanese Garden
. accessed 28 June 2016. The garden's Japanese name is ''Suihō-en'' (水芳園) meaning "garden of water and fragrance." The idea of having a Japanese Garden adjacent to a water reclamation plant was conceived by Donald C. Tillman. The garden's purpose was to demonstrate a positive use of reclaimed water, in what is usually considered a delicate environment, a Japanese garden. The ponds and irrigation use reclaimed water from the adjacent water reclamation plant.

Design

The gardens were designed by Dr. Koichi Kawana, and created from 1980 to 1983. Their formal dedication was in June 1984. The Japanese Garden has been ranked 10th out of 300 public

s in the United States by the ''Journal of Japanese Gardening''. As one first enters The Japanese Garden, one walks through a dry Zen meditation garden (''

Karesansui The or Japanese rock garden, often called a zen garden, is a distinctive style of Japanese garden. It creates a miniature stylized landscape through carefully composed arrangements of rocks, water features, moss, pruned trees and bushes, and us ...

'') containing a large grass-covered mound, representing Tortoise Island, a symbol of longevity, and a Three Buddhas (''Trikaya'') arrangement of stones. Next comes an expansive '' chisen'', or "wet strolling" garden with waterfalls, lakes, trees, and stone lanterns. At path's end is the Shoin Building with an authentic 4½

tatami A is a type of mat used as a flooring material in traditional Japanese-style rooms. Tatamis are made in standard sizes, twice as long as wide, about 0.9 m by 1.8 m depending on the region. In martial arts, tatami are the floor used for traini ...

(7 m²)

tea house A teahouse (mainly Asia) or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment wh ...

and adjacent

tea garden A tea garden is an outdoor space or garden where tea and light refreshments are served, or any garden with which the drinking of tea is associated. Especially in India, it is also a common term for a tea plantation. The tea garden was a part ...

Events and in media

The garden is a popular spot for visiting and planned events.Thejapanesegarden.com: Hours & Admission
/ref> It can be rented for wedding ceremonies and Hollywood film/video projects, such as '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' where it stood for various planets and Starfleet locations on Earth, including the

Starfleet Academy In the fictional universe of ''Star Trek'', Starfleet Academy is where recruits to Starfleet's officer corps are trained. It was created in the year 2161, when the United Federation of Planets was founded. The Academy's motto is "''Ex astri ...

. The ''

Shoin is a type of audience hall in Japanese architecture that was developed during the Muromachi period. The term originally meant a study and a place for lectures on the sūtra within a temple, but later it came to mean just a drawing room or st ...

'' building was also used as the spa in the 2003 film '' Bruce Almighty''.

References

External links

*
''The Japanese Garden'' official website

The Japanese Garden photo gallery

Japanese gardens in California Parks in Los Angeles Parks in the San Fernando Valley Lake Balboa, Los Angeles Van Nuys, Los Angeles Cultural infrastructure completed in 1984 1984 establishments in California {{US-garden-stub

Design

Events and in media

See also

References

External links