The Flat Garden, atop a hill beside the Pavilion, was designed to showcase seasonal beauty. A weeping cherry tree represents spring; the raked white gravel suggests "cooling water" in summer; a lace-leaf Japanese maple symbolizes autumn; and black pines thrive through the winter season. (Barb Gonzalez/For The Bulletin)

PORTLAND — The koto is a Japanese stringed instrument that draws comparison to the harp. Eri Muroi plays it like an angel.

Earlier this month, in the new Cultural Village of the beautifully expanded Portland Japanese Garden, the young Japanese-American woman gave a performance that scores of music lovers will long remember. Even those who had never before heard the strains of koto melodies were charmed.

As I watched Muroi deftly finger-pluck the 13 strings of this ancient instrument — a wooden box, nearly 6 feet long, with movable bridges to adjust the pitch — her music transported me to another world, one of beauty and romance, of frenzied passion but also peace and serenity.

In my mind, I felt gentle spring breezes tease delicate cherry blossoms off their branches, then send them drifting down upon passing pedestrians as they contemplated the transitory nature of life. I perceived silhouetted lovers embracing upon a steeply arched bridge as colorful koi raced beneath them in the moonlight. And I was reminded that a garden can be so much more than a lovely landscape, more than a place of inspiration and reflection. It can also serve to educate and stimulate a community.

Gateway center

This is what the newly redefined Portland Japanese Garden does so well. After a winter-long closure, the 56-year-old garden introduced its newest feature — a $33.5 million Cultural Village — when it reopened early last month.

Already regarded as the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan itself, Washington Park’s 9.1-acre hillside property now has a designated area where visitors can be immersed in traditional Japanese arts and culture. Three new buildings surround a central courtyard emulating a “monzenmachi,” a medieval gateway town still seen outside sacred shrines and temples in modern Japan.

The Jordan Schnitzer Japanese Arts Learning Center has a gift store, gallery space, library and classrooms. It also has a corner stage where expert musicians such as Muroi perform on koto and shamisen, where ikebana (flower arranging) and calligraphy are demonstrated, and where the age-old tea ceremony is conducted for a full hour every Wednesday and Saturday.

Across the Tateuchi Courtyard, the intimate Umami Café serves several varieties of whisked tea along with Japanese sweets and small rice dishes for light midday diners. Opposite, the Garden House, which offers horticultural workshops, is framed by two small gardens, one of them a bonsai terrace. Living roofs atop each structure, designed like the thatched roofs of ancient fishing huts, absorb rainwater and prevent runoff.

The west side of the Cultural Village is marked by the Zagunis Castle Wall, a replica of those found in 16th-century Japan. Built under the direction of a 15th-generation master stonemason, it was constructed, using hand tools and techniques, of 800 tons of Baker City granite. It stands 18½ feet high and 185 feet long (a 1:10 ratio).

Steps and bridges

New arrivals to the garden now buy their tickets at the Tanabe Welcome Center on Kingston Avenue, opposite the International Rose Test Garden, and take a shuttle bus to the Cultural Village. Better yet, they climb a series of steps and moderately sloping trails through the new Entry Garden, its waterfalls cascading through a series of ponds. This landscape is best seen by those who look down while crossing a glass bridge at the final approach to the Village.

The Cultural Village was designed by architect Kengo Kuma, who is leading the team now constructing the National Stadium for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Working with garden curator Sadafumi Uchiyama in his first public commission in the United States, Kuma imbued Washington Park’s natural beauty with his sense of Japanese artistic tradition.

“Working with the garden has influenced my approach to future projects, especially integrating green and wood,” he was quoted in a Japanese Garden press release. “For example, the National Stadium in Tokyo will be rich in vegetation, evoking a feeling of forest in the city.”

In the years following World War II, Portland was a leader among cities striving to heal the cultural gulf between the United States and Japan. Mayor Terry Schrunk, who served four terms (1957 to 1973), supported the concept of replacing the Oregon Zoo — which moved to its current, larger site in 1959 — with a Japanese garden. Here, he foresaw, Japanese ideals and values could be communicated to Americans through nature.

The original 5½-acre garden was dedicated in 1961. Its designer, Takuma Tono, incorporated five different garden styles to represent different periods in Japanese garden architecture, thereby promoting a cultural exchange.

Five garden areas

Departing the Cultural Village, a garden visitor is faced with a daunting choice: Do I turn left? Or right?

Left leads to the Flat Garden and the Pavilion, from which there is a marvelous view across downtown Portland to Mount Hood on many summer days. This I prefer to leave until last. So I turn right and travel clockwise around the Japanese Garden.

First stop is the Tea Garden that surrounds the rustic Kashintei Tea House. The path of entry is an easily navigable maze, designed to represent a journey from urban complexity to mountain tranquility. The route gets more basic for the visitor who leaves behind the hustle and bustle of daily life to approach the teahouse’s inner garden. Special ceremonies have been held within the sturdy wooden hut since the Japanese Garden first opened.

Next is the Strolling Pond Garden, its upper and lower ponds linked by a flowing stream populated with colorful koi fish. The upper pond, nearer to the Tea Garden, is spanned by the arc of a traditional Moon Bridge. The lower pond, fed by lovely Heavenly Falls, may be crossed on its Zig Zag Bridge leading through a marshy bed of spring-blooming irises.

From the pond area, the main trails head back toward the pavilion. I keep to the right and find myself in the natural garden, on a narrower path that weaves over rocks and roots through a thick woodland, one that appears to be natural in every way. Flowering shrubs blossom beside stone benches discreetly hidden off the walk, offering places of quiet contemplation.

This trail comes to an end at the Sand and Stone Garden, a Zen-like oasis with tall gray rocks standing in raked white sand, surrounded by a square white parapet. This garden, starkly different from others here, demonstrates a Japanese aesthetic principle called “the beauty of blank space.” There’s plenty of seating for visitors who may be looking for a place to meditate.

The Flat Garden, at the top of the hill beside the Pavilion, combines elements of several other gardens as it showcases the beauty of each season. There’s no surprise, then, that it’s always spectacular, no matter what may or may not be in bloom. A weeping cherry tree, 85 years old, is the harbinger of spring, especially when it blossoms in April. Raked gravel is seen as water that “cools” the summer. An ancient, lace-leaf Japanese maple, more than a century old, represents autumn, while black pines that keep their foliage throughout the year symbolize the winter season.

Art exhibits

The Pavilion serves as the Japanese Garden’s main gallery of art. I’m never disappointed by the exhibitions I’ve seen presented here.

Through next weekend, the ceramics of former Japanese prime minister Hosokawa Morihiro are featured in “The Art of Life, A Rebirth in Clay.” Hosokawa, the country’s leader in 1993-94, retired from politics in 1998 at the age of 60, moved to a small hot-springs town and began pursuing the life of an artist. He studied Zen, practiced the tea ceremony and apprenticed under a master potter. Now he specializes in making cups, bowls and other implements for the tea ceremony, along with Buddhist sculptures.

Hosokawa will be followed by a display of bamboo crafts, including basketry, and an exhibit called “Behind the Shoji,” presenting the Japanese-influenced work of Northwest artists. Upcoming in July is “Kabuki: A Revolution in Color and Design.” Elaborate costumes from Japan’s most flamboyant theater art form will be on display. In September, for the fall season, emphasis shifts to the hand-carved masks and elegant silk brocade costumes of traditional Noh theater.

Meanwhile, 2018 will see the opening of the International Institute for Japanese Garden Arts & Culture at the Cultural Village. The institute will teach techniques of Japanese horticulture and traditional arts through a combination of academic study and apprentice-based learning. A Chabana Research Garden, the first of its kind in North America, will grow flowers specifically for tea ceremonies.

Urban dining

Besides the Portland Japanese Garden, the best place to discover Japanese culture in this Oregon city is in its restaurants. There’s a long list that includes much, much more than sushi.

Among the most intriguing restaurateurs is Chef Naoko Tamura. She recently has expanded her dinner-only Shizuku restaurant (a fixture in downtown Portland since 2008) into a space designed by aforementioned architect Kengo Kuma, designer of the garden’s Cultural Village. Faithful to locally sourced ingredients, the menus feature a wide range of Japanese specialties. Tamura recently was commissioned to provide all Japanese meals on Delta flights from Portland to Tokyo. Ramen noodle shops have become popular across the United States, and Portland is at the forefront. Two popular Tokyo-based chains, Afuri and Marukin, have chosen this city to open their first ramen shops outside the homeland. Marukin’s budget-priced outlet is in downtown’s Pine Street Market, while Afuri, whose offerings also include a fine robatayaki grill, is in southeast Portland. Noraneko, meanwhile, a small contemporary cafe beneath the Hawthorne Bridge, is a locally owned ramen house from the owners of the popular Biwa restaurant.

Izakayas, essentially Japanese-style gastropubs whose focus is on food to accompany the drinking of sake, are growing in popularity. In downtown Portland, the Shigezu Izakaya often has a half-hour wait just to get a barstool. Of other izakayas around town, I favor the Miho Izakaya, a delightful and modestly priced pub in a renovated house in north Portland.

Sushi bars are legion. In the central city, Bamboo Sushi is among the best; its newest location at 12th and Stark presents such uniquely Japanese dishes as okonimaki, as well as specialty sushi. Just around the corner, the Quickfish Poke Bar caters to true raw-fish aficionados.

Eat and sleep

And then there’s Nodoguro. You’ll need to book a month, perhaps two, in advance to get a seat at this acclaimed east-side restaurant, which serves an adventurous, omakase-style dinner — that is, whatever owner-chef Ryan Roadhouse decides to place in front of you. Be assured that it will be a Japanese meal, seasonally inspired, and it will probably take you 2½ to 3 hours to wade through all 11 courses.

A new, Japanese-owned inn is in the works in downtown Portland. The Toyoko Inn group has not yet announced an opening date for what it is calling an “economy hotel,” but it has purchased a space at Southwest Third Avenue and Oak Street near the Old Town neighborhood. Tokyo-based Toyoko has more than 250 no-frills, business-class hotels in Japan and, more recently, South Korea; it is building in Vietnam and New York as well as in Portland.

The nearest major downtown Portland hotel to the Japanese Garden is the Hotel deLuxe, and this is where I slept on my recent visit. In fact, a brisk uphill one-mile walk might have been a faster way to get to the garden than dealing with the limited parking in Washington Park.

A historic, eight-story property located west of Interstate 205 and south of Burnside Street, the deLuxe has Hollywood’s Golden Age as a theme, with each floor’s decor dedicated to different actors or directors. I suppose if my lodgings had featured a tribute to Japanese film and legendary director Akira Kurosawa, my search for Japan in Portland might have been complete.

— John Gottberg Anderson can be reached at janderson@bendbulletin.com.

Expenses for two

Round trip drive Bend to Portland (325 miles @ $2.55/gallon) $33.15

Lodging (two nights), Hotel Deluxe $309.15

Valet parking (two nights) $66

Dinner, Shizuku by Chef Naoko $64

Breakfasts (two) at coffee shops $35

Admissions, Japanese Garden $29.90

Lunch, Umami Cafe $26

Dinner, Shigezu Izakaya $72.50

TOTAL $635.70


If you go

INFORMATION

Portland Japanese Garden. 611 SW Kingston Ave., Portland; japanesegarden.org, 541-223-1321.

Travel Portland. Visitor Information Center, Pioneer Courthouse Square, 701 SW Sixth Ave., Portland; travelportland.com, 503-275-8355.

LODGING

Hotel deLuxe. 729 SW 15th Ave., Portland; hoteldeluxeportland.com, 503-219-2094. Rates from $135

Park Lane Suites & Inn. 809 SW King Ave., Portland; parklanesuites.com, 503-226-6288. Rates from $107

Sentinel Hotel. 614 SW 11th Ave., Portland; www.sentinelhotel.com, 503-224-3400. Rates from $152

DINING

Afuri Fine Ramen. 923 SE Seventh Ave. (at Yamhill Street), Portland; afuri.us, 503-468-5001. Lunch and dinner every day. Moderate

Bamboo Sushi. Four locations including 404 SW 12th Ave. (at Stark Street), Portland; bamboosushi.com, 503-444-7455. Lunch and dinner every day. Moderate

Marukin Ramen. 126 SW Second Ave. (Pine Street Market), Portland; marukinramen.com, 503-224-0798. Lunch and dinner every day. Budget

Miho Izakaya. 4057 N. Interstate Ave., Portland; mihopdx.com, 503-719-6152. Dinner every day. Budget and moderate

Nodoguro. 2832 SE Belmont St., Portland; www.nodoguropdx.com. Dinner Wednesday to Sunday. Expensive

Noraneko. 1430 SE Water Ave. (under the Hawthorne Bridge), Portland; noranekoramen.com, 503-238-6356. Lunch and dinner every day. Budget

Quickfish Poke Bar. 1122 SW Stark St., Portland; quickfishpokebar.com, 503-444-7571. Lunch and dinner every day. Budget

Shigezu Izakaya. 910 SW Salmon St., Portland; shigezo-pdx.com, 503-688-5202. Lunch and dinner every day. Moderate

Shizuku by Chef Naoko. 1237 SW Jefferson St., Portland; shizukupdx.com, 503-227-4136. Dinner Tuesday to Saturday. Moderate to expensive