International Peace Gardens (Japanese Garden)

Alice Kasai, a lifelong proponent of peace and the oneness of humankind, was also a primary founder of the Japanese Peace Garden at Jordan Park. She was intimately involved in the Matsumoto-Salt Lake Sister Cities relationship from its inception in 1958. Her many years of correspondence with Mr. Tamotsu Murayama in Japan reveal how enormous obstacles were overcome leading to an exchange of zoo animals, rare birds, the Japanese garden's important stone lanterns and most famously the ill-fated shipment of cherry trees (read The Cherry Tree Friendship.)

It is our ardent wish that for the fiftieth Anniversary celebrations in 2008 of Matsumoto Sister Cities relations, the Japanese Peace garden may be restored to a high standard including replacement of the 1953 Seattle Fair teahouse which burned after just three short years. Peace Gardens International Academy will be actively seeking contributions for this lofty project. In gratitude for Mrs. Kasai's lifetime of service, it is our sincerest dream that the one thousand cherry envisioned by this peace gardens founder may blossom around the perimeter of the International Peace Gardens and along the Jordan Riverbank.