Golden Gate Park: Japanese Tea Garden

O-karikomi (type of topiary style) sculpted trees and bushes blended with "natural" landscape; Originally built as part of a sprawling World's Fair, the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894. The oldest public Japanese garden in the United States, this complex of many paths, ponds and a teahouse features native Japanese and Chinese plants. After the conclusion of the 1894 World's Fair, Makoto Hagiwara, a Japanese immigrant and gardener, approached John McLaren with the idea to convert the temporary exhibit into a permanent park. Hagiwara personally oversaw the building of the Japanese Tea Garden and was official caretaker of the garden from 1895 to 1925. The garden suffered neglect during WWII (the Hagiwara family was interned), but was reopened after the war. In 1953 the Zen Garden was designed by Nagao Sakurai and represents a modern version of kare sansui (dry garden). Source: Wikipedia; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page (accessed 9/2/2015