The Portland Japanese Garden is specifically designed to exclude outside noise and turn visitors focus inward, toward an authentically pruned and groomed Japanese landscape. Now forty-five years old, the plantings within have reached stunning maturity. And periodically, the Japanese tea ceremony is performed in the tea house garden.

Virginia Harmon, Director of Grounds Maintenance at the Portland Japanese Garden, has a unique job, taking great care in pruning and grooming shrubs and sculpting elements of the landscape according to ancient traditions with the goal of transporting visitors to a place of inner calm and serenity. Throughout the garden, there are features meant to capture calm and transport the spirit. But the tea garden is especially designed to purify the body, mind, and soul.

Symbolic elements in the Japanese tea garden include:

Arbor - where visitors wait quietly to be ushered into the garden.
Stepping stones - set specifically to slow the pace.
Gate - to enter the space where a heightened spiritual plane is manifest.
Stone bridge - to transport the spirit.
Basin - to rinse hands and mouth, symbolically purifying body, mind, and spirit.
Stone lantern - to purify the mind before proceeding.
Dappled light - to symbolize spiritual enlightenment.
Water - to symbolize purification.
Outer vestibule - where worldly possessions are shed to allow all guests to enter as equals.

Special thanks:
Virginia Harmon
Jan Waldeman, teacher of Urasenke style tea at the Issoan Tea School
David Laws
Kerry Cobb
Diane Durstan
Portland Japanese Garden
611 SW Kingston Ave
Portland, OR 97205
503-223-1321
www.japanesegarden.com

Issoan Tea School
17761 NW Marylhurst Ct.
Portland, OR 97229
www.issoantea.com