I see that at least one site says - ""Hiroshi Makita is acclaimed as one of the foremost landscape designers and environmental artists of the world." - http://www.rainbowchild.com/artists.html - & that he's described as specialising in Zen and Fung Shui garden design.

Whether this indicates that he has a great deal in common with various other fashionable designers, or which school of thought among them he perhaps belongs to, I have no idea, but I suspect that Doug Roth might have an interesting opinion about the garden.

From what few pictures I've seen of his work, I'm not - so far - much impressed. I much prefer what I've seen of gardens designed by Shinichiro Abe.

Who would want to associate themselves with a fool who calls himself a "feng shui garden designer" ? Not me, that's for sure.

Have to agree with bahama on this one.

Herb, have you visisted any of his gardens? What makes them so bad? With that statement, you made me curious ;) lol

/henrik

Henrik -

No I haven't visited any of them. What I said was -

"From what few pictures I've seen of his work, I'm not - so far - much impressed."

It might be that if I did visit them I'd form a more favorable opinion, but the fung seui claims and the rest of the advertising hype about him don't encourage me to even want to visit them!

Herb

Hmm... im still curious.. do you have the pics? Or can I find them on the web, perhaps in his portfolio? I have never heard of this chap...

/Henrik

Henrik - No, I didn't download the pictures. There are a few at this site. It strikes me that he's blowing his own trumpet rather loudly..... -

Click here

For a second, I wondered what the h*ll Willem Dafoe was doing crouching behind irises lol

I agree about the trumpeting --- but I believe that's what they taught in the 'humility' class at The Liberace Academy of Feng Shui Zen Landscapery..

sheesh - and now there's another Journal to look out for - Hemispheres!

Jack

"I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole" just isn't adequate in this case. "Zen Garden Master?..." "Feng shui artist?..." Goodness, the stench is revolting.

The gardens looked nice, but there is also something unsettling about them I think. They are not anything like traditional zen gardens I think... Which for me works very well!!

/Henrik

fyi, fwiw,...
Makita was sent as a toddler to a Rinzai temple, in which he was trained in a trade as are many children that were dropped off and were not intended to stay, -- he chose landscape design.
-At 18 he left the temple to intern at the American Embassy in Tokyo, learned some English and worked for a trade company, being sent to the East Coast US, in 1966.
- apprenticed under, worked for, and finished Katsu Saito's garden at Swiss Pines for Bartschi in the late 1960's. He spent 11 years there. It was featured in Architectural Digest in the 1980's.
-he then spent 5 years working for Jack Miller, and the moss garden is advertised 'For Sale' in JoJG, featured in AD in 1987.
- he prefers to trade for garden work, having gained a red BMW (2000), cell phones etc. even though he claims to make about 50,000.00 a year, his gardens are worth 400,000.00 to 1 million, etc.
--notes from the Inquirer Magazine from Philly.com, from an old article by Hilary Jay, "Guess who's coming to garden' posted on the web in June 2000.

I guess Katsuo Saito will now be included in the stench... quick burn the books he wrote etal... they may reak of FS....

sadly we are all guilty of judging something while we still know little about it, even if it may be only good marketing, or,
-- having spent years working under Katsuo Saito, may there be some substance to his work, given the right client and budget?
fwiw,
edzard

edzard,

Slowness is my gift. What is fwiw?

I have to agree with Edzard... some people might find Picasso's paintings awful, other will raise them to high heavens... I guess it is a matter of taste, so is it about all kinds of art and design. And it is very hard to say that any kind of garden is "right" or "wrong".

Since this fellow has gone through extensive studies, it is strange that he hasn't learned something. Of course there are always people who feel they are best at what they do (have a big ego), and thats a rather strange thing for a japanese person to be, at least my experiense tell me that.

A quick andvice to mr Makita is that he should tone down his profile a bit... the words "master" and "artist" just doesnt feel credible to use when marketing these things (which for me are rather spiritual).

I dont know if Picasso had in mind how much money he would earn by selling his paintings... no true artist should work ONLY for profit...

/Henrik

Don, fwiw is for what its worth (if I remember correctly, shrug and I'm getting verbally lazy... sorry)

My comment to most readers is that the person about whom the article is written has -0- say in how they are written up, unless they have arranged for the right to edit prior to print. you would be amazed at how the last print editor changes headlines, information to photo bylines or credits depending on how they feel the marketplace will respond -mainly for gaining readership, which is their business, rather than representing 'you' accurately.

In many cases, this extends to websites, the right words, get the most hits, which now are also a major form of advertising to gain clients.

Not an example I wished to get into, however the dry humour & irony is inescapable:
If you were to write for the JoJG, Roth reserves the right to 'edit' your article to align with the Journals directions and beliefs. This includes changing the wording, printing when and where it is deemed favourable, and your name is still on the bottom of the article.
This means that you do not know how you will be represented in your beliefs or research, whether you will be roasted or applauded, or whether the article carries the information it was designed for, nor if it is timely or you have gained newer research since the writing.
Nor will you know if your graphics or photo's will match the article as Goda is 'the only graphics artist' permited.

In short, there is very little personal say in how you will be spun out in the media. It would be important to separate what is media and what is the persons real thought, comparative to what is being used for attracting the 'right' clientele that pays your bills.
--and the advertisements in the JoJG, by being there and advertising Feng Shui,... shall we extend the logic to conclude that JoJG firmly espouses Feng Shui by its choice of advertisers??

-And, which Feng Shui (Black Hat etc.) is being employed, with how that type is being used, plays a great part in the conversation of Feng Shui is good, or Feng Shui is bad.

I would suppose that Makita is using Feng Shui as a marketing tool, being a current buzz word guaranteeing sales and readership of people that have money..... (and I'll go read the 'profile' recommended**,.... -**it seems I could have saved writing his history, at least in part)
-and having read the writeup, would also comment that fusui is an intrinsic part of historic house orientation, especially Sukiya architecture and life. The writeup also mentions that the Swiss Pines is a 'museum of Feng Shui to Zen gardening',... would this not be akin to the Adachi Museum housing different periods of historic garden types?

Please bear in mind (to my understanding) that the origins of Feng Shui / fusui, were to respond to phenomina that was unexplainable or in lieu of science, which was banned until the post Edo period..... (if you could not use science to explain something to your children, then how would you present the answers??)

-- this comment is reflective of misunderstandings such as 'the bad corner in the garden needing a sand trap (quick sand) is the N.West, which originated from the historic invasion of mongols (demons) entering from the N. West direction into Japan ... - and that given specific air patterns, that poisonous ground hugging sewer gases dictated that the toilet be relocated - while a Buddha statue may never face the toilet, nor in the direction of the buried dead. Not to mention siting a house on the dragons belly, since you will gain ground rather than losing it to erosian or flooding,..(etc.)

FS:
(which reminds of a short vignette by Comedy Inc. featuring the Feng Shui interrogation room, offset bathroom, properly directioned mirrors with reclining torture bed, color co-ordinated pillows and 600 threadcount sheets, soothing wall colors with herbal scented candles with an undernote of wild animal pheromones, just to keep the edge on the fear.)

Makita also expresses space in a classical fashion if the fourth winter scene (photo gallery) is reviewed, with the thought of the woodblock print and a particular artist that was extremely instrumental in developing the direction of the Japanese garden.
....... etc. etc...... thought's ?
edzard

The daylight brings fresh air. With fresh air comes enlightenment. I know what fwiw means, Edzard!

Not discounting Mr. Makita's talents, Japanese style gardens do not usually feature so many colorful flowering plants. Even the customary Azaleas are chosen for their small leaf and tight growth, not for their spring bloom.

Accomplished Japanese Masters are confident and secure, not boastful or arrogant. However, if this web site was designed by Western marketing for Western markets, both the abundant color and the self-praise, as well as the catch-phrases of feng shui, zen, master, etc. might have been thought attractive.

A matter of taste? Yes. There are many Japanese style gardens I do not consider Japanese style at all. But that is only my opinion - fwiw!

I feel sorry for Katsuo Saito. He's dead and can't distance himself from this slimy character.

chuckling,... fresh air: does this mean that the tic on your face, is really indicating tongue in cheek???

--i prefer to focus on the 'expression' of garden, ( I still prefer to avoid the term 'style'), and agree with you wholeheartedly Don,
in the photo gallery the photographs were chosen with color, which is excellent for a website expressing the colorful aspects of the Japanese garden, whereas the somber our 'preferred' perception is in the 'side-view' of the same azaleas, showing the structure of the stonework. (good design / pruning exercise for anyone)

Yet in all of this, I would refer back to 'the expression' of whatever we see.

For comparison, check out Japanese Nunnery gardens for color... and I remind myself often that there is a _lot__ of color in the Japanese gardens, --just that we photograph muted scenes perhaps choosing to show only the 'quality of structure' - as being indicative of the garden.
For what seasonal expression has the garden been made?
For what reason was it photographed?
What showcases our longterm objectives = drama? passing color or stonework?

how would we combine and express the Japanese garden structure with the western needs?
(remembering also that everyone, including Japanese people love color, while in colder climates with little color, color is desperately needed for uplifting the mind --- said with having already experienced snow this fall)

In this sense, Makitas confidence and security is such that he can show photo's with color, since the quality of the structure is already there. At least that is how I read it 'his expressions'... fwiw..

?eh??, patjonking... thats name calling of what others believe in... and unkind in any company, moreoft having longterm negative affects for both parties.

seeing one stone in a garden shows the character of the gardener...--show us your gardens, that you've built that exceed his in quality!
let us compare.......

if, if,-- his are better and it took FS to get there, then by all means we should look at fusui as a means to communicate whatever it took to create better gardens, so that we may all benefit.

Or, while being momentarily kind, tell us what you dislike about his gardens, and why do you describe his character as slimy? is he unclean? The gardens? They do look well groomed...

which leaves me noticing the distinct earth tremors, undoubtably from Liberace rolling over in envy.

would anyone feel like comparing the color in Korean gardens?

lol.. I can't be absolutely sure (maybe his fans will know).. but I always got the impression that the only person Liberace envied, was the Queen of England

Jack

Jack, a message from the Queen,"We do not forgive you."

Edzard: Fresh air is an excuse for my dull wit in reading the post. As it happened, I began my earlier reply during a lunch spent at the PC, but didn't send it until much later. My post was written simultaneously with your fwiw answer. Thus I have no tic - that I have noticed!! And, any similarities to your judgements of Western commercialism influence on the web site in question are coincidental, but of concern as it indicates a pattern of thinking parallel to yours : ) Just kidding Edzard!

In my limited experience, the great majority of private residences in Japan cities are very small and do not have garden spaces to speak of. Their gardens are on the front steps or porch. Folk can be seen in the morning caring for wide ranges of colorful plants in just as wide a variety of containers. Many water with the milky water from the rice rinse. But nearly all the gardens my teachers presented to me as "Japanese Gardens" had very little color, other than the ethereal flashes from the change of seasons. This implies that my training was limited to their ideals, eh? Is there nomenclature for this divergence in the use of or lack of abundant color in Japanese gardening, I wonder?

Don - I'm impressed by the company you keep.. or did you just mean: a generic Queen? - though I'm all for diversity and applaud you ... but I believe the saying is: "We are not amused" (as one can only forgive, when it's asked for) ;)

As to the use of vivid color in Japanese gardens - I concur. I have always understood the 'monochromatic' idiom which extends to gardens, to be uniquely Japanese, and the preference for a muted pallette against which splashes of seasonal color unfold.. this aspect is reflected in many other Japanese arts and crafts as well

A limited color pallette often creates a sense of calm and tranquility (unless the composition is horrendous!) and the tea garden is even more 'mannered' in this approach.. For those Japanese wealthy enough to afford a lot of space, exotic flower gardens and such are kept separately from the traditional Japanese garden

I fear those "earth tremors" felt by Edzard's seismicly sensitive feet, must be Saito rolling in anguish :)

Jack

In a ticy manner I can only recommend the gardens in question be recommended for an episode of a new series, 'A Straight Eye for the Queer Guy' being aired on QBC this autumn...

though, tic aside, much as gardens of many periods were based on poetry, the poetry of Japan was edited completely by Fujiwara, such that all gardens from poetry have become as muted as the poetry, and therefore all taste of japan, was altered forever in 'his image of taste'
Being muted in color has also made it more powerful, poignant and allowed the sense of 'aware' to develop more fully.
however..... is that the direction that the Japanese garden should have gone?

What if Fujiwara had never written the annotated allowable verses, forms and protocols, and What If, the older original by another author had never been burned?
Would the Japanese garden have found a way to incorporate color as the models from Korea had directed? or is there color we are not (wishing to be) aware of?

To which, if one would consider the gardens as a creation rationalizing/depicting the pre-Asuka Period, then color was very evident - as recorded by pollen counts.

I would still back up to the point where, 'as we do not know the Author's Intent, then it is unreasonable for us to comment on his taste', and, should rather look to understanding what was intended by the gardener.
If, there is eventually absolutely no reason for the color to exist in that place, having no benefit to the space, mankind or nature, then it should not be in the garden.
What if, it is really a hummingbird feeder station masquerading as a Japanese garden?

We do not need to like it, for it to successfully do its job.
If we look closely at patterns, then one would also notice that the further north, the more color is integrated into the (Japanese) garden. Okinawa 0, Hokkaido 10,..
and what period of garden are we expecting as the 'standard measurable norm'?

edzard, imhofwiw, no tic but :)

Edzard ---

Are you sure about northern gardens having more color? Do you have particular examples in mind?

A couple of years ago I did a quick tour of gardens in Hokkaido in the fall. My purpose was to see what plants were used in JG in climates similar to ours here in Maine.

There were, of course, many fewer JG there and none of them were very old (Hokkaido having been settled by the Japanese relatively recently). What was there tended to be less meticulously tended and perhaps less artistically pleasing than what we see in Honshu, but I didn't notice a big difference with respect to the use of color. Of course I was there in the fall.

I wonder, too about gardens in northern Honshu (like Aomori) where I've never been --- is that what you're thinking of? Or are there other gardens in Hokkaido I might have missed? (We went from Sapporo to Obihiro (different ways there and back), then to Hakodate.)

Lee (with fond memories of feasting and soaking at onsen spas...)

:), am I sure???
depends on what we're talking about (I trust you can already see the coming sidestep to tackle a different equation)...
It depends on whether we are talking about historic gardens, or since Hokkaido was 'settled', and which we are talking about on this board.
-from a historic sense and from gardens that have been built or developed in a traditional manner to period settings,
a lot of color no, I would say from a general standpoint, more than is shown in the south, yah, pretty much. As indicators from the species indicated from landscape architects, city planners (to whom we send trees) and from reseaerch into Friendship gardens color has been of great interest and is becoming even more.

On their visits here they were deeply impressed by the fall colors of the aspen, which was their replacement for the katsura tree in the gardens (and boulevards).

Mizuno did a northern trip some years ago (which I have not yet been able to do) and commented that there were some excellent gardens, seen from the winter structure, and after tossing species to me with regard to color in spring, summer and fall, was puzzled by the 'increase in color', which was not acceptable in Lethbridge.
- observations including that the colder the clime, the greater the struggle, the more need for invigorating color to be felt/responded to by the people.

I was reminded again going through old issues of Niwa, showing gardens from Hokkaido,.. have to look for names..

'generally' -names, sorry, don't recollect, and sadly most of my areas of information are from Obihiro and Higashikawa... from Mizuno -northern Honshu, there were gardens that were 'quite impressive', 'now understanding the need for color', added with, 'don't be afraid of color, its a tool' --yet the names, after these years I do not recollect, nor able to write them down, as I was listening while working in a tree.

If you like we can easily say that there is less color, it'all bein' her'say, and I would not be dismayed...

- and I would still have to slyly grin and straightfacedly ask if we are talking about 'Japanese Gardens for Today', A Japanese Touch, Japanese Style gardens or referencing historic pre-800's...
edzard

Makita is well-known among Japanese garden enthusiasts here in the Mid-Atlantic region. "Slimy Character" pretty much sums up his reputation. Edzard, if you talked to some of your Japanese garden or bonsai friends in Philadelphia (Chase Rosade? Jim Doyle? Mark Prebe?) you'd be more cautious about endorsing him. I feel lucky that Makita's "stench" (that's a good word KNR!) doesn't usually make it all the way down here to Virgina.

patjonking,...
- :), being in the west with the Alberta Clipper on our side, we seem to be free of circumglobal winds,.. at least for now, rarely noticing what goes on elsewhere, even though we are intensely curious...

I find it interesting that you feel I am endorsing Makita. I'm not.

I am going back to the original question and commenting on what I think of the garden while providing a counterbalance to painting someone with a scent. Even though I may care little for a gardener, their gardens may be admirable. I'm not interested in personality, personal reputation, etal...
perhaps if I had to deal with them, then I would care.. At the moment I don't.

there is a time in everyones garden growth and also apparent in bonsai circles, 'when people do not know that they don't know anything' (in Fred Miyahara's words) in which they are nigh unto unbearable, and this is normal. I also think that in this area, most people change, grow and become more understanding as their understanding grows of the garden (or bonsai).
As I am myself, thankful daily for Jim Lewis' considerable admonitions of 'hit think before hitting send'.

Given patient conditions, people change and become very enjoyable as they grow with their gardens. -imho, the garden still teaches.

- I am endorsing the need and use of color in the garden, considering peoples need for 'their expression' in gardens, a need for an uplifting in spirit for people which may be achieved by use of color in the garden (as one solution).

I do not know if that was Makita's intent with his garden, yet would give the benefit of doubt based on what I see. Perhaps the client was particularily difficult. I don't knw, and so can not have a definitive opinion about Makita's garden. I can, however undertake to try to understand what I see.
I also appreciate restraint and 'when to stop' as a marker of someone that may be bearable to converse with about gardens.
(and continually bear in mind that since I run on and on and on, with seeming lack of restraint, trying to share more than perhaps necessary, that I might just be unbearable to coverse with as well)

All the while, hoping to emphasize as well that historically perennials were not often used for color in the standard issues of period gardens excepting the nunnery gardens and the Heien. And that most shrubs used in the Japanese garden flower at one time or another, or have dramatic colouration of leaves, that would conclude that there is more color in gardens than we expect, if we based decisions on pictures alone.

And that color may be a necessary evil in the garden if all we focus on is the structure, and continually only view gardens stereotypically as the scroll paintings, in which green should be viewed as the white space in our painting logic.

Which is where I was hoping the conversation would go rather than painting negative brush strokes as a main themology,

I gather then that Virginia is still a tight knit community... those are good people to mention...
edzard

Hey Folks,
I have known and worked along side Hiroshi Makita for 28 years.
Have any of you been to see his work, talked with him, or done anyhting truly fruitful in the persuit of telling something real or factual about him, his gardens, his gardening knowledge, or the experience he possesses?
I'll be waiting for any and all responses.

Absolutely beautiful and moving me to a different state of awareness.

The properties that Hiroshi enhanced inEatern Pa. are of brilliance. Ì have seen and felt his creativity. Cindy C.

I would welcome a return to this conversation regarding Hiroshi and the legacy of his work. : )

I knew Hiroshi Makita when he was head designer at Swiss Pines Japanese Garden in Charlestown PA. I volunteered there several summers and where my love of gardening took root He was also involved with the refurbished Japanese Teahouse and cherry blossom tree planting in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia He was extremely gifted. A short bio from the Swiss Pines site is posted below

Hiroshi Makita was born in Japan. He was adopted by Zen monks of the Rinzai Sect at the temple of Fusaiji, Nagano Prefecture on the island of Honshu, Japan, where he lives for 16 years. During his time there he learns the deepest aspects of Zen Buddhism and its connection to garden experiences.