Learning from the Garden » Japanese Culture

Autumn is the season
Tonight is the night
A splendid full moon
in the perfect spot—
and you gazing upon it

—Anonymous, Goshui Wakashu, (Later Collection of Poetic Gleanings), 11th Century

A half-smile, the faultless restraint, the delicate features: the face of a Japanese doll silently reveals the soul of an ancient culture. Hina Matsuri, the Festival of Dolls, celebrated on March 3, is a once a year event during which little girls learn the importance of gentility and thoughtfulness, qualities they would need to become good wives in mothers in traditional Japanese society.

Ikebana, the traditional Japanese art of flower arrangement, is both an ancient and modern art. In basic form, an ikebana arrangement follows a fixed pattern: a triangle of three points representing heaven, earth, and man. Emphasis is placed on linear perfection, color harmony, space, and form. An ikebana usually contains the foliage and flowers of the current season, and all are used in their natural state except for the deft “cut” of the arranger’s clippers which perfects the line of a branch or the shape of a bud.

Over the past few months, the Garden has received over 1,000 entries in our 2007 Haiku Contest. This contest was open to participants from around the world and was featured at the Garden, on the Garden’s web site, and at the United States Botanic Garden during their Terrace Garden Exhibition.

The magic of the full moon has captured the imagination of people around the world throughout recorded history, perhaps nowhere more so than in Japan, where the custom of paying special homage to the moon dates back to ancient times when farmers held religious ceremonies to pray for a successful harvest.

The Portland Japanese Garden is holding a nationwide haiku contest for any and all participants. The contest started as part of the Portland Japanese Garden’s terrace exhibition at the United States Botanic Garden in Washington, DC, where visitors to the exhibition are invited to enter by writing their own haiku and mailing or emailing them to the Garden. The Garden has now extended the contest to its members, visitors, and the general public in order to spark creativity and bring awareness to this 300-hundred-year-old art form.

Over 500 wishes have been made

Over the past few weeks more than 500 visitors to the Portland Japanese Garden have added their personal hopes and dreams to our Wish Tree, which was initiated during the Tanabata Festival on July 7.

“O-Bon is a time to reflect on one’s own immortality and remind ourselves that we are not alone, but that we are members of a vast and ancient society made up of both our forbearers and of future generations.” — from a Japanese Garden Member

The following haiku have been chosen as noteworthy entries among the many we received in the first few weeks of the contest:

Mountain and field,
land and sea flock together-
Japanese garden

—Vasile Moldovan

Haiku are short poems of three lines that record the essence of a moment in which nature is linked to human nature. They are written in the present tense, as if they are happening now. Most haiku contain a kigo, or seasonal reference, such as ‘cherry blossoms’ to indicate that it is spring. Traditionally, Japanese haiku are written in three vertical lines of five, seven, and five syllables for a total of seventeen syllables. In English, haiku is written in three horizontal lines. It is not necessary to follow the strict 5-7-5 syllable count because the two languages have completely different rhythms. Rather, it is essential that haiku be brief, telling the reader what, where, and when in a few well-chosen words. You should be able to read a haiku in one breath.