A brief history of the
 
Japanese Tea Garden
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, CA USA

An account by Erik Sumiharu Hagiwara-Nagata

© 1999 Erik S. Nagata

The Japanese Tea Garden was created by my great, great grandfather Baron Makoto Hagiwara. It owes its humble beginnings as an 1894 World's Fair Exhibit called the Japanese Village. When the exposition closed, the superintendent of the park, John McLaren, was approached by my great, great grandfather with the idea of giving the City of San Francisco a gift in the form of a Japanese style garden and to display the Japanese lifestyle. This offer was most kindly accepted over a handshake (as that was the manner in which business was conducted in those days) and the construction of the Garden began.

This was to be no ordinary garden, nor was it a garden done in one of the period styles so well known in Japan. As all Japanese gardens address the site and its surroundings, the Tea Garden was done in a rustic style, to blend in with the rugged countryside of the area and quite unknown in the United States at that time. And it was also a Tea Garden, which allowed for a larger public area with a correspondingly smaller and more private area for the family.

The original extent of the grounds was just about an acre (the site of the Japanese Village exhibit), but the Garden was greatly expanded to about five acres. Immediate attention to the layout of the garden was undertaken to get the garden looking everything that it should be. Great expense was applied to acquire the necessary items required to make an authentic Japanese garden come into being. As he was a man of means and due to the station in life of my great, great grandfather, nothing of second nature would suit the well being of this garden. Only the best would be acceptable here. Also due to the station in life, many of the restrictions of obtaining materials from Japan were made easier for import and exceptional items could be gotten.

It is interesting to note that all the items were received via ship on the high seas. Huge costs often accompanied either the importation of goods or the use of bringing artisans from Japan to work in the Garden. One example was the importation of goldfish for the shrine moat. A man had to accompany the barrels of fish across the ocean in order to insure their survival, and his passage paid. Another was the aviary, which housed rare birds and the Japanese long tailed rooster. Statuary of fine caliber was also here in the Garden. There were many bronzes, among them perched and spread winged eagles, descending Kwannon (Goddess of Mercy), a shrine which stood above the moat and at that time (the gold standard) cost $10,000.00, a porcelain lantern, as well as many many other ornaments. A standing Deva with trident, a pot bellied statue, a wooden buddha, and a wooden carved figure so well done with a glass eye that it looked like a real kneeling figure. Curious that today many of these things were stolen. Also important to know is the fact that none of the costs were ever reimbursed to the family. The family fortune went into the ground.

I am reminded of a story told to me by my late grand aunt. A seal had somehow gotten out of its pool from the Academy of Sciences and wandered into the Garden where it zealously began eating up all the goldfish until it could be caught and returned to its tank. This happened because the aquarium had not yet been added on to close the front area. Of course this meant that new fish had to be gotten once again!

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