Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden

American Japanese-style garden design in the 20th century.
The Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden represents a major phenomenon in American cultural history. The appreciation and assimilation of Japanese design concepts and aesthetics beginning in the late 19th century and subsiding with the outbreak of World War II. Japanese gardens and gardening played an integral role in the history of Japanese immigration and acculturation, particularly on the West Coast.

Fascination with Japanese culture.
The creation of Japanese-style gardens reflected American's fascination with Japanese culture and fueled the boom in Japanese-style garden construction across the country.

The Storrier Stearns Japanese Garden is a superb example of the many private gardens that were a part of that phenomenon. It was designed and created by Kinzuchi Fujii, a landscape designer and craftsman from Japan. His patrons, Charles and Ellamae Storrier Stearns, were wealthy benefactors of the arts and significant players in the cultural and civic life of Pasadena.