1977
Japanese Garden is dedicated.

Japanese Garden. Construction.

Japanese Garden in 1980.

This garden is named Seiwa-en, which means "the garden of pure, clear harmony and peace." Designed with great care by the late Professor Koichi Kawana to ensure authenticity, this 14-acre garden is the largest of its type in the Western hemisphere. A four-acre lake is complemented with waterfalls, streams, and water-filled basins. Dry gravel gardens are raked into beautiful, rippling patterns. Four islands rise from the lake to form symbolic images. Several Japanese bridges link shorelines; families delight in the feeding of the giant koi (Japanese carp). Visitors are enthralled by cherry blossoms, azaleas, chrysanthemums, peonies, lotus, and other oriental plantings. This garden represents centuries of tradition and a multiplicity of cultural influences synthesized in a uniquely Japanese art form.