Japanese Cultural Center - Tea and Bamboo

A stop on Foothill College Campus Walk, a free self-guided tour.

Tucked at the west end of the Language Arts row is the Japanese Cultural Center, building 6600, dedicated on February 6, 1982. It grew out of the Japanese language program that Dr. Michiko Hiramatsu founded at Foothill in 1973. She saw the campus's Japanese-influenced design as a natural home for teaching Japanese culture, and Japanese companies and local and Japanese donors paid for the building. Congressman Norman Mineta attended the dedication.

Half of the center is a traditional tea room, named Sho Ju An by the grandmaster of the Urasenke school of tea and used to teach the tea ceremony. The other half is a classroom and showcase of Japanese arts and crafts. A boulder at the entrance dedicates the building to the Issei, the first generation of Japanese immigrants.

On the hillside nearby, photography professor Gordon Holler planted six bamboo plants in 1989. The garden grew to about two acres and 81 varieties, and in 1998 students from Toyama, Japan built its azumaya, a garden pavilion.

Getting here: From the PSEC Quad, walk southeast past the 5000 buildings to building 6600 at the west end of the Language Arts row.

Did you know?: The bamboo garden began with six plants donated by the American Bamboo Society.

Photo op: Follow the bamboo garden path to the azumaya and frame the pavilion through the bamboo.

More on Wikipedia: Japanese tea ceremony · Urasenke · Norman Mineta · Issei

Japanese Cultural Center - Tea and Bamboo

Stops on this tour