Artist: David Slawson

Year: 1976

During his second visit to Japan, Dr. Bardwell Smith, Professor of Asian Studies, discovered Kyoto and its “wealth of gardens” (Smith, 2000), and vowed that Carleton would someday have a Japanese Garden of its own. The site for the project was chosen in 1974 and its design and construction were completed by 1976, with the support of Peter Smith and Marshall Gittler ’76. The garden was designed by David Slawson, a landscape architect from Cleveland, Ohio. Slawson first visited Japan as a marine before obtaining a Masters and Ph.D. in Asian Studies and eventually studying for two years in Kyoto with Kinsaku Nakane, one of Japan’s foremost garden designers.

The garden is a kare-sansui, or dry landscape garden, which has basic elements such as stones that become a mountain stream, white gravel that is transformed into a lake with rock isles, and spanned a wooden bridge only for looking at. The lichen covered rocks present in the garden were gathered within a hundred mile radius of Northfield, with over a third being 3.5 billion years old. At the entrance of the garden is a chiseled granite lantern with a candle, called a “Kasuga” based off the shrine in Nara where it’s style originated. The candle light traditionally would light the way to a temple or shrine. Another key feature is the walkway paved of stone, or the “nobedan”.

The Japanese garden is meant to embody the philosophy of “fulfillment found in harmony and tranquility of body, mind, and spirit” (Carleton College), with roots dating back to early Zen Buddhism and the first man-made landscapes in early imperial China.