A Journey to Our Japanese Friendship Garden — an Essay by, Thomas Lazar
Japanese Culture in Fort Wayne
The Japanese Friendship Garden at the Arts United Center in downtown Fort Wayne is a gift from Fort Wayne’s sister city Takaoka, Japan in July 1980. The gift was given to commemorate the sister city relationship and was reaffirmed by the burying of a time capsule on May 11, 2002 (Japanese Friendship Garden). It is a nice place to have a nice small walk and since sister cities exchange cultures with each other you can experience the tranquility of a Japanese Garden without having to travel across the world (Fort Wayne Sister Cities International Inc.).
When you first pull into the Arts United Center, catching a glimpse of the Japanese Friendship Garden is not the easiest task. With no signs to direct me and my parents, we had to almost drive around the whole complex to find it but lucky for us it was near the front entrance. When I stepped out of the car, I was surprised to see just how small of an area the garden was in and how it felt like it was kind of hidden. I found it kind of weird that it was, but I was excited.
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of my story, let us go over some more of the history of the garden to get a better understanding. Surprisingly, it is honestly very difficult to find much history or much extra information online about the garden but with the Chair of Takaoka, Japan Committee’s Justin McAfee’s help I was able to find out more of this garden’s interesting history. To begin with, in 1980 the founder of Fort Wayne Sister Cities International Howard Chapman invited the Kimio Family from Japan to help layout the project foundation (McAfee). Also in the same year, Tim Doyle a local artist from Fort Wayne crafted two limestone sundials. One of the sundials was placed near the garden but was later moved to the front of Science Central, while Takaoka’s is placed in front of their city hall (McAfee).
The first thing that caught my eye before even walking to the garden was the big cherry blossom trees that hung off the side of the garden looking extremely bright and dignified in an almost full bloom state. While walking to the garden you get a full view of what you are about to observe up close because of just how small and compact the garden is in size. Before we started to walk around the whole garden my dad said: “Well thanks for taking us here buddy because I would never know this was here in the first place.” and I had to agree. Walking through the tiny pebbles laid out throughout the entire garden was an odd but satisfying experience because of the crunchy sound a group of pebbles makes when you step on them. Looking around the garden I noticed that it had a dried-up moat with a little bridge that you could cross. With my first walk though, I decided to take in the sight of the sculptures that looked like something is supposed to be inside, the colorful flowers, and different sized rocks. There was also a little shack/wooden seat in front of the cherry blossom tree that we could sit down on.
Japanese gardening and American Gardening while having the same concept in practice is different in execution. Japanese gardens are integrated into the home and are mostly put into a fixed point to be observed from that point. The garden is also planted in a way that makes it look more spacious than it is in reality (Powell). Japanese gardens are also not overpowering to the view but give them a sense of the scene trying to be captured by the garden itself. Also in a Japanese garden, the size of the plants and other scenic objects are supposed to be similar in size to what we can see in nature itself. The landforms, plantings, and pathways are done in a certain way to relate to the scale of the human body. This is to make visitors to the garden feel more familiar and comfortable while taking in the gardens scenery (Powell). To end it off, one final difference is that Japanese gardeners allow open space in their gardens. A lot of gardeners tend to have the notion that gardens need to be filled to the brim but having some open spaces allows plants to breathe and create their own impact (Powell).
In my interview, I asked McAfee how the garden is maintained. He told me the garden is maintained by the Fort Wayne Parks Department, so I am not sure of specifics, but he did tell of an incident that happened around 2002. A Japanese delegation visited Fort Wayne to see the garden but found out that the Parks Department added certain things to the garden that distanced itself from a true Japanese garden. The delegation then urged the organization and the city of Fort Wayne to revitalize the garden with the help of local Japanese families. When the revitalization was completed, the FWSCI (Fort Wayne Sister Cities International Inc.) felt that the occasion needed to be celebrated and held the first Cherry Blossom Festival which is still held in May annually. (McAfee and Cherry Blossom Festival Fort Wayne).
After walking around a little and crossing the little stone bridge over the moat that was completely devoid of water I decided to just take in the sight of the flowers and sculptures. Even though the garden is not big, it is still a very pretty sight and a nice place to chill for a while. After a little while more of sitting on the old wooden bench hut, we decided it was time to leave the garden. It was very interesting to learn about this garden and find out about the concept of sister cities and what it can do to expand the teaching of different cultures in different countries. It was a nice experience to catch a glimpse of what Japanese gardening can look like.
Works Cited
“About FWSCI." Fort Wayne Sister Cities International, Inc., 2021.
"Homepage. “Cherry Blossom Festival Fort Wayne.
John Powell. “Elements of a Japanese Garden.” Fine Gardening. The Taunton Press Inc., 2010.
McAfee, Justin. Personal interview. 26 April 2021.
"Plaques at Arts United “The Japanese Friendship Garden.
