Seiwa-en is a Japanese strolling garden located in the Missouri Botanical Garden,

St Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, in the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

. At 5 ha (14 acres), it is the largest such garden in North America. It features a large lake, modest traditional buildings, bridges, islands,

carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

, dry gravel landscaping, and other symbolic features. Planning for the garden began in 1972, and it was dedicated in May 1977. Seiwa-en was designed by Dr. Koichi Kawana, a professor of Japanese architecture and

landscape design Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practiced by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice, landscape design bridges the space between landscape architecture and garde ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. He was originally from

Hokkaido is the list of islands of Japan by area, second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own list of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō fr ...

island in northern

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and taught

ikebana is the Japanese art of flower arrangement. It is also known as . The origin of ikebana can be traced back to the ancient Japanese custom of erecting Evergreen, evergreen trees and decorating them with flowers as yorishiro () to invite the go ...

, a Japanese style of flower arangment in his spare time. Dr. Kawana was a pioneer in the design of traditional Japanese gardens that integrate local or native plants into the garden's structure. He designed more than one dozen Japanese style gardens in America after becoming a

US citizen Citizenship of the United States is a citizenship, legal status that entails Americans with specific rights, duties, protections, and benefits in the United States. It serves as a foundation of fundamental rights derived from and protected by ...

in 1971; Seiwa-en is his largest work. The garden contains a Japanese maple tree planted as a gift to the garden by the

Emperor of Japan The emperor of Japan is the hereditary monarch and head of state of Japan. The emperor is defined by the Constitution of Japan as the symbol of the Japanese state and the unity of the Japanese people, his position deriving from "the will of ...

on a visit to St. Louis. There are also Japanese cherry trees planted near the garden's entrance that bloom in spring.

External links

The Japanese Garden
Asian-American culture in Missouri Missouri Botanical Garden Botanical gardens in Missouri Japanese strolling gardens Japanese gardens in the United States {{StLouis-geo-stub