Public Places : A Secret Garden in Little Tokyo

A lush Japanese garden with a rushing stream, quiet pool, footbridges and a strolling path is a hidden treasure in the concrete expanse of downtown Los Angeles. The James Irvine Garden, named after its major benefactor, is not visible from any street, which adds to its serenity.

Redwoods now stand 35 to 40 feet tall in the 8,500-square-foot garden, which was completed in 1979. Its Japanese name is Seiryu-en, Garden of the Clear Stream, and it is tucked behind the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center complex in Little Tokyo, adjacent to Noguchi Plaza. (Outside gates to the garden are often locked, but there is a public entrance through the basement level of the community center.) The plaza and garden are a public and emotional center for Little Tokyo, which serves far-flung Japanese American communities in Southern California. Public events like a religious service in remembrance of Hiroshima and the traditional Nisei week festival are held in the plaza.

Takeo Uesugi is the landscape architect who designed the garden, whose Japanese name is Seiryu-en, the Garden of the Clear Stream. He talked with JANE SPILLER.

Question: How did the Garden of the Clear Stream come to be?

Answer: The Japanese American community had a dream to have a garden next to the cultural center. They asked me to help them. They raised money and hundreds of gardeners, landscape contractors and nurseries donated material and labor. It was a team effort.

Gardens are really important in Japanese culture. Visitors bring a spiritual, almost religious attitude to a Japanese garden, as contrasted with more active, recreational Western gardens. It’s very important that when people come into the garden they feel peace, serenity, tranquillity. Nature worship--Shintoism--is the native religion of Japan.

There is a stone basin for washing your hands prior to the tea ceremony--a serene ritual related to discipline, how to make other people happy, all sorts of things.

Q: Are there principles of Japanese garden design that you followed?

A:There is a book written in the 11th century, “Sakuteiki,” which is sort of the bible for the Japanese garden. It talks about how to make a waterfall, how to make a pond. It also establishes three main principles: No. 1 is to work with the natural conditions. No. 2 is you have to really work with the client’s needs. No. 3 is historical. You have to look for a beautiful example and learn things from the past.

One of the very beautiful gardens in Kyoto also has a triangular shape. I used that one--not copying, but as a prototype--one stream, then two streams back into the one.

This garden is influenced by the climate and the different plants that do well here. It is a Japanese American garden, but with Japanese spirit and principles.

Q: Japanese gardens are known for their symbolism. What story is the garden is telling us?

A: I wanted to tell the history of the Japanese American community. The stream itself is a lifeline. At the top of the garden are redwoods and a mountainscape. Water comes from the mountain, rushing very fast. The rocks are rugged, not rounded. This is the first generation, the Issei, and the hard times they had. Then the stream hits a big island and is split in two. It goes both right and left. I envisioned World War II, a difficult time for the Nisei, the second generation. They were confused. There was internal conflict. Then after the war, the two streams meet and merge into a quiet pool--the third generation, hope for the future. Then the water disappears and a dry stream conceptually runs out to the urban street. It’s the dream to become part of the American community.

Public Places columnist Jane Spiller welcomes suggestions for places of interest. Contact her c/o VOICES or by E-mail at spillers@news.latimes.com