Abstract
This study examines the role of public gardens as a constructed environment, a space, of cultural diplomacy between the United States and Japan. Cultural diplomacy is any activity that uses the exchange of cultural artifacts between countries and their citizen to foster mutual understanding and cooperation. The creation of Japanese gardens open to the public began in the United States with the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia in 1876, where the Meiji government included such a garden in their fair exhibit. Later, Japanese immigrants, especially to the Pacific Northwest where to this day most Japanese gardens can be found, created these gardens to promote their businesses, including horticulture, and to promote their cultural heritage and provide communal gathering spaces. Americans readily embraced the Japanese garden landscape design and purpose to be places of peace, beauty, and contemplation until World War II when Japan and its culture became an enemy to American national security. After the destruction of some of the Japanese gardens in the wake of the war, the U.S.-Japan Sister City initiative used Japanese gardens in their cultural diplomacy efforts to promote peaceful relationships and business between the citizens of their countries. The gardens as a space of relaxing outdoor experience have in many ways contributed to the popularity of Japanese culture before and after the war in United States social life.
Presenters
Sandra ReinekeAssociate Professor of Political Science and Director of the University Honors Program, Department of Politics and Philosophy, University of Idaho, Idaho, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
KEYWORDS
PUBLIC GARDEN, LANDSCAPE DESIGN, JAPANESE CULTURE, CULTURAL DIPLOMACY, SOCIAL LIFE
