{"id":737,"date":"2017-08-09T08:14:12","date_gmt":"2017-08-09T13:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/nfldhist\/?p=737"},"modified":"2018-12-10T12:21:51","modified_gmt":"2018-12-10T18:21:51","slug":"the-japanese-garden","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pages.stolaf.edu\/nfldhist\/the-japanese-garden\/","title":{"rendered":"The Japanese Garden"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Japanese Garden<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>

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Clifford Clark<\/em><\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>

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Carleton\u2019s Japanese garden was named by The Journal of Japanese Gardening in 2000 as one of the ten best Japanese gardens outside Japan. Conceived by Bardwell Smith, Dean of the College and Nason Professor of Religion and Asian Studies, Emeritus, it was built from 1974 to 1976 by David Slawson.<\/p>\n

The garden was designed to acknowledge the long history of Japanese students at Carleton as well as the college\u2019s connection to the Kyoto program for American students that Smith helped start in 1970.<\/p>\n

Sheltered by long-standing arborvitae, the garden is constructed out of ancient rocks from Minnesota. Lake Superior beach stones become a dry mountain stream that empties into a small lake of white gravel. The site has a serene and subtle beauty. Bordered by a tea house, it is designed as an oasis of serenity.<\/p>\n

Mary Bigelow, a professional gardener who prunes the trees and bushes in the garden, said, \u201cIn Japanese culture, things that are aged and have survived in difficult times are respected.\u201d She compared the Scotch pine in Carleton\u2019s garden to those on Minnesota\u2019s North Shore. \u201cYou see that one tree growing on the side of a cliff and you have no idea how it has managed. It\u2019s stretching out, curling . . . and is sort of contorted looking. The fact that it is there alone is a miracle. You know it didn\u2019t just happen yesterday. This tree has some stories to tell. It has survived how many winters and windstorms. It\u2019s the same with [the Scotch pine in Carleton\u2019s] Japanese garden.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith said, \u201cThe garden seeks not to provide meaning but to animate inner reflection. We are not provided religious, philosophical, or any other interpretation . . . In this sense, the garden becomes an area of quiet listening, listening to one\u2019s own inner spirit. Through experiencing such a garden\u2019s quiet beauty and elegant simplicity one may be called into a more genuine awareness of our connections with the rest of existence.\u201d<\/p><\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>

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View from the South<\/h3>

A view of the Japanese garden from the north side.\n<\/p><\/div>

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Studying<\/h3>

A student studies in the quiet and peaceful Japanese garden in the 1990s.\n<\/p><\/div>

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Stone by Stone<\/h3>

Workers proudly present the completed rock path of the Japanese garden in 1976.\n<\/p><\/div>

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Rocks<\/h3>

Workers move around rocks to help complete the Japanese garden in 1976.\n<\/p><\/div>

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Bardwell Smith<\/h3>

Professor Bardwell Smith came up with the idea of the Japanese garden and even built a smaller one in his own yard just across the street.<\/p><\/div><\/div>

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