Yume Japanese Gardens of Tucson
Visit Japanese courtyard style gardens in Tucson, Arizona. Yume means “dream” in Japanese, and as in a dream, the gardens conduct visitors through metaphors that summon the creative force of centuries of Japanese culture.
Category: 501(c) 3 Organization
Discipline: Traditional arts
Program Affiliations: Arts Foundation Grantees
About Yume Japanese Gardens of Tucson
Yume Japanese Gardens is the living expression of an ancient Japanese heritage, conceived with a unique vision and a sensitive healing purpose. The gardens are configured in eight settings. Each displays a different facet of a 1,000-year-old and still-evolving Japanese art form that strives for a balance of natural and man-made beauty. It is a tradition that shows profound respect for wildness even while gently reshaping it into idealized landscapes that lead us to reflect on our response and relationship to nature. Revealing pathways and layered plantings offer intimate courtyard views of classical Japanese imagery: a Zen contemplative garden, a stone and gravel garden representing sea and islands, a grass garden, and a tranquil strolling pond garden provide further examples of Japanese garden styles. In addition, with its extensive offerings of traditional Japanese festivals, ceremonies, workshops, and performing arts, Yume stands as a cherished cultural center in our community. It also houses a museum of traditional Japanese artifacts, an art gallery that showcases artwork of many local artists, and a gift shop that offers many possibilities of buying authentic Japanese goods.
Patricia Deridder
Preferred Pronouns: Ms.
yume.gardens@gmail.com
520-551-0895
https://www.yumegardens.org
Koi Pond
Yume’s most popular garden has as its focal point a large koi pond. In spring, summer and fall green lily pads float on its surface, bearing delicate pink and white flowers, and year around red-and-white Japanese carp swirl through its waters and around a half-submerged rock representing an island in what is a metaphor for an inland sea. Other rocks jut into the water like promontories and rise above the “shoreline” like headlands; still more are heaped like low mountains, down which water flows into the pond in a murmuring cascade. More than any other of our gardens, the Koi Pond Garden is designed to give casual pleasure, and a path winding beside the pond provides entertaining shifts in viewing angles. The veranda of a waterside pavilion extends over the water, providing a platform from which to spy on the flashing fish that congregate below to be fed.
with Suzu Mitsuyuki of Suzuyuki Kai Dance Troupe
Evenings at Yume: "Dance of Spring"
One of our most popular event: our enchanting “Evenings at Yume” are always a feast for the senses, a chance to unwind and immerse oneself in the timeless tranquillity of a Japanese garden brought to life by the magic of candlelight. As darkness falls, the peacefulness of the gardens deepens and candles and lanterns become even more mesmerizing, casting an intricate patterns of light and shadow. The photo shows an Evenings when our dancers, adorned in intricate costumes, wove tales of love, nature, and mythology through graceful movements and gestures.
Museum Exhibit
"The Sedge Hat and the Staff - A Journey to Zen"
One of our museum exhibit - October 2023 - May 2024
