[INSTALLMENT 18]
Nestled in the drier forests just beyond historic Downtown Saratoga lies a 17-acre expanse of Japanese gardens, peppered with Edo-style housing and zen gardens to spare. Since its construction as a private Japanese garden by Isabel Stine in 1917, the Hakone Gardens have become a staple in Silicon Valley culture as a semi-occluded destination for mellow birthday parties and wedding receptions alike. For the penultimate destination of The Daily Explorer, I venture into these gardens alone: a tribute to my first adventure, way back in sophomore year. Join me on this issue’s trip to Hakone Gardens—though I’ll be your only guide, this time—to appreciate the tranquil reflections the koi pond will bring.
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Welcome back travelers, to The Daily Explorer. In this series, I travel (often with Journalism guests) to interesting (and educational?) places within the Bay Area. With these accounts, I hope to inspire the readers of The Shield to explore their hometown and demonstrate that there’s always something new to explore.
Keep an eye out for some of your favorite writers from The Shield, as some may accompany me on these adventures in the future. If you have any favorite places, restaurants, parks, etc, please email me at 558971@my.cuhsd.org to issue a recommendation. Your name and input about the place in question will be credited.
Without further ado, buckle up and enjoy the blog-style ride of The Daily Explorer!
WEDNESDAY, April 16
1:42pm, Missed Turn (Or Maybe Not)
With trusty Google Maps at the helm, I started upon the winding Saratoga roads towards the Gardens. Luckily, I was blessed with a warm and sunny day, so I didn’t mind the mindless meandering of Highway 9 too much. At one point, I must have passed the sign marking the entrance, because only ten minutes later did I realize that Google Maps was taking me on a four-mile detour.
But the day was still young, and I had nowhere to be, no one waiting on me, and no reason to flip a sketchy U-turn on Highway 9, so I continued. The views on these hilly Saratogan (?) roads were steep, yes, but gorgeous. With Elton John on CD blasting through my tinny Prius speakers and the windows open, I enjoyed the extra miles, no matter how many blind-turns and 45-degree-hills I had to traverse. How many journeys had this Prius taken me on? Does Los Angeles have long, tree-canopied drives like this? How much am I going to miss going on these adventures with my friends? Clearly, my nostalgic mood was already taking root.
2:02 pm, Hakone Gardens
On my way out of the horseshoe-shaped detour, I saw the demure white sign advertising Hakone Gardens facing Highway 9, not even 30 seconds out of Downtown Saratoga. Feeling marginally sheepish (less so because there was no one to chide me), I chugged up the hill on a low gear and eventually crested a cherry-tree lined hill to the small parking lot on top.
Though this is one of few (perhaps the only?) Daily Explorer for which we’ve had to pay admission, I did not mind, considering the extensive upkeep I assume it requires. At just $12 for adults and $8 for youth, I paid for my ticket at the small gift shop/main office and pushed through the bamboo gate.
The estate was both larger and smaller than I had expected—mostly because I can’t eyeball a “17-acre” plot of land—and I ended up spending a very quiet hour wandering the premises. First, I stopped by the koi pond, which was home to some monster koi fish. I was a little freaked out, but given the popularity of the fish food at the gift shop and the estate’s recent centennial, I suppose it would have been freakier if the fish were normal-sized.
Many, if not most, of the exotic plants rooted along the pathways sported a nearly-camouflaged nametag and QR code to the plant’s biography. Though I had visited Japan before, I was taken aback by the appearance of many of these specimens, especially by the waters’ edge.
The Bamboo Forest was next on the list (though it was rather less relaxing, as I found myself trying to outrun a family arguing loudly in Chinese for much of the trek). What I found especially amusing, though, were the frequent signs discouraging the plucking of bamboo shoots. How many hungry grandmas, I wonder, had to rob shoots for the Gardens to catch wind? I know my own Vietnamese grandma would not hesitate to pluck the shoots from the ground to make a stew.
Between several fascinating exhibits about traditional Japanese weaving and Hakone’s history, I don’t believe I said one word. The estate was surprisingly empty, save for an elderly couple, a young mother with her infant, and the aforementioned Chinese family. Aside from a couple of polite nods, I felt almost alone, walking through the wisteria terraces and sitting on the occasional wooden bench. I hadn’t felt this independent tranquility in a while, not since my first mission to the San Jose Museum of Art.
2:49 pm, Reflections
Perhaps it was the ambient burbling of the waterfall, or the vast view of the very flat Silicon Valley, but something about Hakone made me stop and consider the journey I had taken to get to this point—mid-April in my senior year, I mean. Tests had been passed, essays had been written, decisions had been made, and 18 installments of my proudest journalistic work had culminated to here and now. How much did I owe The Daily Explorer, after the countless doors it opened for me to connect with my fellow journalists outside of Westmont hours? Or after it partially got me into college? Or how it taught me to be audacious, and take advantage of the surprisingly potent power of the Email?
I’ll be honest with you. After a long track record of increasingly spectacular trips—each trying to beat out the previous on scale, price, or novelty, I felt a little disappointed with myself for the penultimate issue’s anticlimactic destination. But here, sitting alone on a bench in Hakone Gardens, after driving my sunburned Toyota Prius down Highway 9 while blasting Elton John, I realized that the Daily Explorer was never supposed to be a spectacle-chasing series.
I watched a California Aurora Borealis on top of Mt. Hamilton, toured two eerie haunted houses (one historic, and one homemade), waded through Santa Cruz waters, marveled at Egyptian history and dinosaur bones, walked through butterfly-ridden tropical forests, and dressed up as early 19th and 20th century townsfolk, all with my fellow journalists by my side. The Daily Explorer didn’t exist to provide spectacle after spectacle. It provided us amateur journalists opportunities to learn, connect, and savor our high school experience in a distinctly journalistic fashion.
All that said and done, I am very aware of this reflection’s cheesiness. I know that such an in-depth reflection was not what you signed up for when you clicked on an article titled “The Daily Explorer #18: Hakone Gardens.” But I appreciate your bearing with me, nonetheless. As we tear our eyes away from our reflection in the koi pond, let’s explore the last few bits yet unseen of the Hakone Gardens.
2:49 pm, Final Looks at Hakone Gardens
Arguably my favorite experience at the Gardens was shading my eyes to squint at the informational poster behind the main abode’s glass. Apparently, Hakone boasted more than a century’s worth of history, starting in 1915 when the wealthy Isabel Stine became enraptured with the Japanese aesthetic, especially of their gardens. The following years, she visited Japan and hired multiple Japanese landscape masters to start construction on her own garden.
Over the following decades, Stine showcased the garden and Japanese culture by extension to many of her social circles. As a patron of the San Francisco Opera, she even “hosted the west coast premiere of Piccini’s Madame Butterfly at Hakone.” In 1966, the City of Saratoga purchased the land and transformed it into a public park. Since then, it has continued to thrive.
In total, I must have walked two miles, just circling the gardens again and again. Indeed, if I were newly engaged, I would consider hosting a reception among the Japanese maple and bamboo, too.
PHOTO ALBUM:
THE VERDICT:
- With friends? Great photo opportunities? Alone? An almost spiritual tranquility. Zen, if you will.
- They have a designated picnic area. Bringing up some lunch from Downtown Saratoga to eat amongst the bamboo is a must.
Join me in the next issue for yet another adventure, hopefully one that sends The Daily Explorer in style.
Signing off until next issue,
The Daily Explorer