Imagine walking into a Zen-filled garden with three large bodies of water and a stone path to guide along the six and a half acres of land. This Zen-filled place is the Japanese Garden, located at 6100 Woodley Ave., in the heart of Balboa Park in the city of Van Nuys.
The Japanese Garden was established in 1984 by Dr. Koichi Kawana, known as the "Renaissance man." He did everything from architecture, art, writing books and poetry. Dr. Kawana was also a teacher who implemented plans, which are still used today.
According to Jan Abrams, Docent and Gift Shop Volunteer at the Japanese Garden, "Docents are tour guides who undergo rigorous training to highlight the key points that Dr. Kawana wanted taught at the garden.
Bringing Waste Closer To Our Living Environment
Waste treatment plants are typically located on the outskirts of towns and cities due to their odors and clunky visual representations. As urban centers grow and expand into the fringes, these plants have become an immediate part of the human living landscape and an "urban eyesore."
In her 2004 book "Designing America's Waste Landscapes," Mira Engler, associate professor at Iowa State University, writes that not only should "waste be brought closer" to our living environment, but we could also design these waste processing facilities to be ecological friendly and even aesthetically pleasing to look at.
A perfect example is the integration of recreational parks and The Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys, a district situated in the middle of the San Fernando Valley. Like a heart pumping lifeblood, the Tillman Plant (built in 1984) supplies water directly to the Sepulveda Recreational Basin, which encompasses three golf courses, a wildlife preserve, a Japanese Garden, and several parks.
The integration of the Reclamation Plant and its surrounding areas is so well designed that the thousands of visitors who come to the beautiful Japanese Garden each year hardly notice the waste treatment facility next door. If anyone tries to move the Tillman Plant away from the vicinity of human dwellings, such action may seriously affect the existence of the Sepulveda Recreational Basin and thus rob the Van Nuys residents their community sanctuary.
The Editors
The Japanese Garden was also created in collaboration with Donald C. Tillman's Water Reclamation Plant, which treats 80 million gallons of sewage through seven steps in eleven and a half hours.
"Visitors who walk into the Japanese Garden experience a whole new world with a feeling of tranquility away from the busy city noise into a place with clean fresh air and well kept plants surrounded by Japanese Koi fish filled waters," explained Abrams.
In addition to the fish filled waters, there are exotic animals at the Japanese Garden including swallows, ducks, cranes and pelicans. "I was surprised at the amount of animals present in a beautiful crisp area because the valley is seen as a hot desert-like place," said Luisa Iturbide, a first-time Garden visitor. "To walk into this attractive scenery is amazing," Iturbide added.
Along with the exotic animals, the Garden is a reflection of the Japanese culture featuring a crane that symbolizes honor and loyalty along with the swallow representing luck. The Garden also contains detailed lanterns and waterfalls positioned in a three-tier manner representing the sky on top...the man in the middle and the earth on the bottom.
The admission price to the Garden is $3 for adults and $2 for children under 10 and seniors over 62 provides the guest with a half mile walk to surely mesmerize all ages and backgrounds.
"Many of the volunteers are retirees who have a fondness for the garden. They enjoy the environment enough to work in it and have an interest in the Japanese culture," Abrams said. "Volunteers keep the garden up to par. The fees paid at the Garden entrance help to pay for the maintenance of the place," Abrams noted.
"The Japanese Garden houses a well-preserved tea house for show and a tea garden," Abrams revealed. The tea house oversees the shimmering lakes, green crane island and waterfalls through the large paper mashe windows that take up all sides of the walls. The tea house is empty because it captures the serenity of the moment without any violence."
Adams added: "The garden is meant to resemble the Japanese art and culture in a home away from home type of feeling while hosting many private events, comprised of weddings, family outings and celebrations. The directional stones found upon entering the garden, lead guests into many Japanese inspired themes, such as a dry garden with stones arranged a certain way on purpose to symbolize happiness and the five basic elements that make up life: wind, water, sky, fire and earth."
Abrams decribes "the Garden is a gift to the San Fernando Valley. If it wasn't for the city enforcing a garden with the building of a reclamation plant to purify the waters, then there would not be such a wonderful place to escape to and free our minds."
In addition to the tea house, a Water Reclamation Plant is located at the Gardens."The Water Reclamation Plant is a good thing to have here," said CSUN Urban Studies and Planning Professor Ashwani Vasishth, "The more water there, the better we are. The water reclamation plant uses areas of wetlands to purify water," explained Professor Vasishth. The clean reclamation plant water is used for the Japanese Garden, Balboa Park and certain wildlife lakes.
CSUN alumnus and now an Assistant Professor of Arts and Science summed up the importance of Japanese Garden this way: "Japanese people and various ethnic groups in the surrounding community will definitely be able to identify with the Garden and perhaps appreciate the San Fernando Valley even more."
The Japanese Garden is located at 6100 Woodley Ave., Van Nuys, CA 91406. Call (818) 756-8166 for Docent led tours.
Photostream by Leslie Flores
More info:
* The Japanse Garden photostream by Leslie Flores on flickr.com
* The Japanese Garden website
* Google Map: The Japanese Garden, 6100 Woodley Ave., Van Nuys, CA 91406
Leslie Flores is a contributor to El Nuevo Sol.
This multimedia series results from a partnership between LA Beez and El Nuevo Sol, a bilingual (Spanish-English) multimedia website of the interdisciplinary program in Spanish-language journalism at California State University, Northridge (CSUN). Students in courses taught by journalism professors Jéssica Retis and José Luis Benavides worked with LA Beez editors Ronald Ellerbe and Julian Do on hyperlocal stories about Van Nuys, one of the most diverse and vibrant neighborhoods in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley, and about youth culture and the impact of the economic crisis on young people.
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