Hakone Gardens, Saratoga, California
Travel Attraction Includes Japanese Tradional Teas and Garden Tour
Sep 29, 2009
The San Francisco Bay region is not just an active metropolitan area; people may escape to the open spaces of natural landscape and numerous gardens. A road trip taken south of San Francisco, on Skyline Blvd. from Woodside to Saratoga, shows this beautiful scenery with the Pacific Ocean to the west and the San Francisco Bay to the east.
Follow this country road to Highway 9 and drive towards Saratoga to find this lesser known attraction of Hakone Gardens and plan on spending one or two hours to renew oneself at 21000 Big Basin Way, (408) 741-4994.
Hakone Gardens is a mirage of Japanese elements on these hillsides with gardens, historic buildings, waterfalls, koi ponds, Japanese lanterns hung about, and crafted stonework where visitors may stroll admiring the works of this ancient Japanese civilization artwork.
These Gardens are rich in history with four distinctive gardens to wander through and tea rooms to enjoy this special culture. The entrance fee of $5.00, with additional fees for these rare tea ceremonies, is affordable at this largest existing Japanese-style garden in the Western Hemisphere.
Tea Ceremonies at Hakone Gardens, Saratoga, CA
Tea Ceremonies and Docent guided tours for groups of five or more may be scheduled throughout the year with advance reservations. A unusual event offered with these ceremonies is the Kimono Wearing Demonstration that may be given depending on the availability of their specialists.
Visitors may participate in the Annual Hakone Daichakai in October, which brings together diverse tea experts of different traditions to share in this beautiful location. This year, 2009, highlights the practices of Omotesenke, Urasenke, Mushanokoji, and Matsuoryu with thin or thick tea at various garden sites. It is advised to register early by calling (415) 731-0622.
Japanese Garden Landscape, Saratoga, CA
Hakone Gardens has been in existence since 1918, when Oliver and Isabel Stine of San Francisco first bought 18 acres to create this garden retreat to remind them of the what they saw of Asian design in the 1915 Pan-Pacific Expedition. It was through Mrs. Stine’s extensive travels to Japan that she acquired ideas for the architecture of the gardens.
With several transitions of ownership through the years, Hakone Gardens was bought by the City of Saratoga and managed by Tanso Ishihara, a Kyoto trained Japanese Garden Specialist in the 1960s.
The Gardens are currently operated by the Hakone Foundation, a non profit, “to promote a deeper understanding of Asian and Japanese culture.”
The four gardens which people may visit are:
- Hill and Pond Garden – is primarily used for strolling.
- Zen Garden – created for meditation and is never entered to disturb its nicely groomed gravel and surroundings.
- Tea Garden – provides a calming, peaceful journey over moss and stepping stones. Guests participate in a change of beauty and elegance as they “purify their hands at the tsukubai, or water basin,” is how the website describes the entrance. This entrance prepares visitors to enter the tea ceremony rooms through this “delicate plant life”.
- Bamboo Garden – “Kizuna-en (kizuna means joining of hands)” illustrates the close friendship with Saratoga's Sister City, Muko, Japan (a suburb southwest of Kyoto) of which both cities are represented by large stones with white gravel between as the Pacific Ocean.
The Gardens are planted with a purpose of blooming plants which may be viewed periodically throughout the whole year to showcase the harmony all year through. The schedule highlights are:
- January – Flowering Plums
- January through April – Camellias
- February – Daphne and Andromeda
- February through March – Violets
- March – Flowering Cherries
- March through June – Azaleas
- April – Wisteria and Rhododendron
- May through June – Iris and Peonies
- May through September – Water Lilies
- October through November – Fall Color
Visitors learn about the distinctive ancient Japanese garden art design and tea ceremonies as they indulge themselves in the serenity of Hakone Gardens located in Saratoga, California, which is a short distance away from San Francisco.
Facts and specific Japanese information is used from the Hakone Gardens official website.
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