Saratoga News
News
April showers bring May flowers to Hakone
By Jason Sweeney
The sun has been shining on red-leafed Japanese maples, cherry blossoms and purple wisteria at Hakone Gardens. After the wet winter, visitors have come to walk the garden's trails amidst spring flowers in full bloom.
The gardens have undergone a series of renovations over the winter. Most of the work was completed just in time for the upcoming Japan Festival. The festival is a cultural event on May 21 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. with Japanese food, tea, music, dancing, art and prizes.
The last couple of years have been big ones for Hakone. The gardens were named an outstanding site of national significance in 2004 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Last May, the city of Saratoga made Hakone an independent foundation, which meant that after being run by the city since 1966, a new business model had to be developed to keep the garden gates open. Hakone Foundation CEO Lon Saavedra and members of the foundation have worked to provide new revenue streams by applying for grants, boosting numbers of visitors, increasing facility use and increasing sales from the gift shop. Last December was particularly special for Hakone when the gardens were featured in scenes from the movie Memoirs of a Geisha.
"We're having a record year for visitors," Saavedra said. "We're up about 20 percent. Memoirs of a Geisha, in combination with the National Trust, are having an impact. The movie gave a very positive reflection of Hakone."
Renovations to many of the garden's historical structures began last November. The main entrance, upper entrance and handicapped entrance have undergone renovation work, as have the wisteria arbor and the balcony on the moon-viewing house. The main gate is being restored, and granite steps from China have been installed.
"The rains have slowed down the renovations," Saavedra said. "We're about a month and a half behind because of the rain. But everything should be completed sometime this May, hopefully before we have the seventh annual Japan Festival on May 21."
On one sunny morning in April, the parking lot behind the gardens was full of cars. Visitors filled the gift shop where coffee table books of photographs from Memoirs of a Geisha are on sale. Tourists, seniors from a visiting senior group and students from two school groups walked the garden paths, admiring the spring flowers and Japanese architecture.
"The positive side of the rain is that the colors have been exceptionally vibrant this year," Saavedra said.
Two teachers, Cynthia Kosut and Azmi Mamis, escorted a group of 33 eighth-graders from Nueva School in Hillsborough. Students from the school visit Hakone every year before an annual 16-day school trip to Japan. Kosut said she thinks there are more people at the gardens this year than she saw last year. "But I hope it stays quiet," she said.
Sarah, 17, and Brian, 17, were at Hakone with a group of 15 students from the Head-Royce School in Oakland. Their group was visiting Hakone as part of a Japanese literature course. Sarah and Brian were working on haikus as they looked at the cherry blossoms. Brian had seen Memoirs of a Geisha but had not known scenes from the movie were filmed at Hakone.
Neither had Arline Mix, Don McDonnell and Lois Scott, who had all seen the movie. Mix is from San Jose and had brought McDonnell and Scott to the gardens. McDonnell and Scott were visiting from Albuquerque. Mix had heard the flowers were blooming and had decided to bring her guests here for a look.
"It's gorgeous," Scott said. "Everything is so green."
Jack Tomlinson, a Japanese garden specialist who has worked at Hakone for the last 32 years, was weeding along a trail with fellow gardener Raul Alavarez. "The weather is nice," Tomlinson said. "More people are getting out."
