Touring out of town visitors can sometimes be a boon for local discoveries.  We took a Portland day on our recent vacation to see some of the local sights.  It is not that I didn’t know about the Portland Japanese Garden, it is just that we don’t go up that often.  Probably the bigger thing is that at $22 per person, it is something that you want to commit to.

One of the things that we take for granted on the west coast is our proximity to Asia, relatively speaking.  What seems relatively foreign in say the Midwest is everyday normal here. Of course, I am speaking primarily of things like food and culture and not so much ‘Made in …’.  Even so, I think that goods like cars were much earlier accepted here than in other areas of the country.

What binds us and Japan is multi-pronged.  One of which is a very similar maritime climate.  It makes the vegetation and the landscape look very familiar in both.  The wood-built society resonates strongly with both and the evergreen backdrop that is carpeted with moss is our world.

What I respect about Japanese culture is the attention to detail.  It seems like many things are specifically deliberate.  It could be things such as tea or calligraphy or food preparation or gardens.  The idea of efficiency is to make sure that everything has a purpose versus our idea of efficiency is to get more with less.  It is no wonder that they invented concepts like Lean Manufacturing and total quality management.

I am not necessarily in love with everything Japanese.  For instance, they have a wood working culture that is every bit as deep and respectable as the western one but I find myself always leaning more European than Asian in tooling, methods and design.  I know that my thoughts are biased from a lifetime of cheap, mass produced junk rather than the respect that a true artisan can muster.  When I see great execution, then I acquire a newfound respect and seeking more inspiration in far eastern techniques.

The gardens are beautiful.  They were created in the 1960s as homage to our connections that I talked about above.  The thing that I will say about it is don’t expect to get the full experience as intended.  I found that there were just too many people running around to get into a zen state.  That probably says something about my westerness as well that I am unable to fully block out distractions. 

When you enter the gardens, there is a short walk up the hill into a faux, simulated village.  There is a gift shop, concessions, offices and conference rooms and a small art exhibition.  The gift shop was closed due to a technical, card processing glitch.  The art display was pretty minimal with dyed textiles and finely cut paper stencils.  Leaving the village was a bonsai display which was very cool but the volunteer could literally answer no questions about the art.  I was starting to feel pretty underwhelmed at that point.

Leaving the village takes you into the garden proper.  There are five distinct rooms or gardens each with their own focus on landscape, plants and features.  In some ways, I feel kind of bad because a lot of what is used is native or common but just pruned to look good and fit in with the vibe.  It makes me feel like this type of environment could be affordably achieved if I just put in some effort.  

One time, I purchased what was labelled as a Japanese Maple at a local plant sale for $0.50 and it just kept growing and growing.  Talking with a local landscaper, he told me it was actually a sweet gum tree.  Now it is too big for where it is placed.  I am kind of in a dilemma of whacking it extremely and trying to keep it small or taking it out completely.  So much for my tip of the hat to the Asian garden.

About five years ago, I purchased a bonsai tree at a local nursery, it was some kind of elm variation.  I placed it in a terrarium for my touch to our home décor as Asian in a Victorian go well together.  It looked great for about a month and then it started to die.  My theory was that the humidity level was whacked due to the enclosure.  But, this trip has inspired me to try again.   Amazon seed kits start at $25 and you get at least five different chances.

End Your Programming Routine: According to Trip Advisor, the Japanese Garden is the #9 attraction in Portland.  It is beautiful and it is expensive.  I would say that if you could get in relatively alone and take your time then it would be worth it.  If you are in Portland for a week and looking for things to fill up the time, it is probably worth it.  My bottom line is that if you cannot meet those criteria, then I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to squeeze it in.  To that end, if you live relatively close to Portland and haven’t done it make time to see what it is all about because it is pretty inspirational.