Traditions in Translation: The Gardens of Fujitaro Kubota.

Robinson, Thomas M.

 

This thesis is a comparison of the landscape works of Seattle's Fujitaro Kubota to the traditional gardens of Japan. Kubota was born and raised on Shikoku Island, Japan. He came to America in 1906, and over the course of the next several decades constructed hundreds of gardens in the Puget Sound region. The real importance of Kubotas work, however, is related more to the design philosophy of the gardens than their sheer quantity. the gardens created by Fujitaro Kubota are examples of a cultural exchange manifested in environmental design. They are also important historical sites, representing the experience of Japanese immigrants in the Puget Sound region. The gardens offer an opportunity for increasing our understanding both of cross-cultural environmental designs and regional history.

The objective of this study is to understand how Kubotas work fits into the historical evolution of Japanese garden design, how it follows or departs from the traditions of Japanese gardens, and how it is relevant to both the history of the Puget Sound region and to the future practice of landscape architecture. The hypothesis is that Kubota's work is significant on at least two different levels. First, as a model for the increasing number of environmental designers who must work in a cross-cultural context, and second as an important contribution to the development of a regional landscape design in the Puget Sound area.

This project can be characterized as an historical design comparison, and the research process that was followed can be described as a "research cycle." The study began in the Puget Sound region, continued in Japan, and was then completed by returning again to the Puget Sound region. The research process, in brief, was as follows:

1) Kubota's work in the Puget Sound region was studied.

2) Traditional gardens in Japan were studied, and a set of core design principles, or "Seven Common Threads" was derived. These Common Threads represent the foundations of traditional Japanese garden design.

3) Using the Common Threads as a framework, Kubota's work was compared to the traditional gardens in Japan.

4) Conclusions were formed concerning how Kubota's work follows or departs from traditional garden design.

In an age of increasing internationalization, Kubota's work offers a model for environmental designers who must work between different cultural contexts. Kubota was able to successfully adapt traditional Japanese garden design principles to the new environment of his adopted homeland. He was able to accomplish this by isolating and applying those principles which have enough universal human appeal to transcend cultural boundaries. He recognized and avoided culturally specific elements which would have been inappropriate in a Western garden, never attempting to force the ideas of one culture onto another. He found in the Seven Common Threads design concepts that have application across a wide spectrum of physical and cultural conditions. Just as the major focus of traditional Japanese gardeners throughout history has been to express a distilled or "perfected" image of nature in the garden, Kubota was able to distill the essence of Japanese garden design and re-create it in the Puget Sound region. In this way, his work offers a model of cross-cultural environmental design that has international implications.