was a Japanese-American landscape architect, best known for his design of the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden at the

Brooklyn Botanic Garden Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) is a botanical garden in the Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn in New York City. The botanical garden occupies in central Brooklyn, close to Mount Prospect Park, Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park, ...

Biography

Shiota was born about 40 miles (60 km) outside of Tokyo on July 13, 1881. He came to the United States at the age of 26. In addition to his landscape work, he was also the author of ''The miniature Japanese landscape: a short description'' in 1915. In the 1920s he formed a partnership with Thomas S. Rockrise (born Iwahiko Tsumanuma, 1878 - 1936) and conducted business from 366 Fifth Avenue. Shiota died in an internment camp in South Carolina in 1943.

Work

The design of the Shiota's Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden at the

, dates from 1914. It stands as the prototype for a popular genre, the first

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...

to be created in an American public garden. Shiota's design blended the ancient hill-and-pond style and the stroll-garden style of the

Azuchi–Momoyama period The was the final phase of the in Japanese history from 1568 to 1600. After the outbreak of the Ōnin War in 1467, the power of the Ashikaga Shogunate effectively collapsed, marking the start of the chaotic Sengoku period. In 1568, Oda Nob ...

, in which various landscape features are gradually revealed along winding paths. Its contain hills, a waterfall, a pond, and an island, all artificially constructed, with wooden bridges, stone lanterns, a viewing pavilion, a ''

torii A is a traditional culture of Japan, Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine, where it symbolically marks the transition from the mundane to the sacred, and a spot where kami are welcomed and thought to ...

'', and a

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

shrine (razed by an arsonist in 1937 and rebuilt in 1960). Other work includes: * one of the four gardens at the

Sister Mary Grace Burns Arboretum The Sister Mary Grace Burns Arboretum, on the campus of Georgian Court University, in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, United States, was once the landscaped park for the winter home of George Jay Gould, millionaire son of railroad tycoon Jay ...

in Lakewood Township,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

(originally commissioned by

George Jay Gould I George Jay Gould I (February 6, 1864 – May 16, 1923) was a financier and the son of Jay Gould. He was himself a railroad executive, leading the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad (DRGW), Western Pacific Railroad (WP), and the Manhatt ...

, and now part of

Georgian Court University Georgian Court University (GCU or Georgian Court) is a private Catholic university in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1908 by the Sisters of Mercy, the university has more than 1,600 undergraduates and nearly 600 gr ...

) * a Japanese garden at the Walter Kroll house, "Sho-Chiku-Bai", in

Tuxedo Park, New York Tuxedo Park is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. Its population was 645 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Kiryas Joel–Poughkeepsie–Newburgh metropolitan area as well as the larger New York metropolitan area. Its name ...

, for architects Walker & Gillette, c. 1912 * the rooftop North Garden at the Astor HotelThe Japanese influence in America, Clay Lancaster

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shiota, Takeo 1881 births 1943 deaths Japanese landscape architects Japanese-American internees Japanese emigrants to the United States