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Kaizuka Meditation Garden

Artist: Kaizuka Landscape Engineers

Object Date: 1974

Medium: Lanterns, waterwheel, bridge, rocks, trees, shrubs, and flowers

County Department: Public Library

Address Name: Culver City Julian Dixon Library

Supervisorial District: 2

About the Artwork:

In 1962 the Japanese Women's Volleyball team visited Culver City after winning the World Championship against the Soviet Union. Although the team represented all of Japan, its members were each originally part of the Nichibo Kaizuka Textile Factory's company team in Kaizuka, Japan. After they had returned home, Kaizuka's Mayor asked Culver City to become Kaizuka's sister city. To strengthen the bond between the two cities, the people of Kaizuka spent many years planning, engineering, and donating materials for a meditation garden. It was first constructed in Japan and then disassembled and sent to Culver City in 1974. Although the rocks, lanterns, waterwheel, bridge, and other objects originated in Japan, the trees and plants were grown locally. The garden was installed in front of the Culver City Julian Dixon Library and dedicated in a Japanese ceremony officiated by a Shinto priest on April 21, 1974.