| Historical Narrative of Shofuso Chapter 7 THE FRIENDS OF THE JAPANESE HOUSE AND GARDEN, AND OTHER CHANGES IN THE 1980'S Vandalism was not the only cause for the deterioration of Shofuso. Irregular maintenance by an under-funded and over-burdened Park meant that the House could not receive the regular care and maintenance that it needed. When Yoshimura visited Shofuso in 1970, he noted that some of the paper of the sliding doors had been in place since the House was built in Philadelphia. According to the architect, such paper would be changed every year in Japan, granted referring to a house being actively used. It is highly likely that little else, except for general care, was given to the Japanese house during its first 25 years in Philadelphia. The House needed the help of an organization that could devote greater attention towards it. In 1982, the non-profit private organization The Friends of the Japanese House and Garden was formed. It began simply as a friends group to provide support for Shofuso, but has since then gradually grown in size and levels of responsibility. Initially, the Recreation Division of Fairmount Park continued to manage the property, but within a decade after the group’s formation, they have had two part-time directors, Kevin Mullavey and Dr. Frank Chance, and today have a full-time director, Hope Zoss. The organization was formed under its first board president Dr. Mary Watanabe. The people who succeeded her were Reiko Gaspar, Hiroshi Uyehara, and Steve Yanai, who is the current president. Fairmount Park, however, is still greatly involved with the operations of the house and garden. They pay for seasonal recreational specialist instructors to manage the site when open to the public. They also do minor repair and installation work. For example, a cover designed by Charles Evers for the brazier in the teahouse was installed by Park employees as part of the general services. The formation of the friends organization, however, has been important to Shofuso, for its more specific and unusual needs. Shofuso today continues to be owned by the City of Philadelphia but operated by the Friends of the Japanese House and Garden. Since its formation, The Friends of the Japanese House and Garden have made some improvements, both for the house and in the garden. They include the replacement and repair of some of the shoji paper. In 1984, the friends group organized and paid for the replacement of the deteriorating sitka spruce bridge in the garden, original to the Philadelphia installation, with a replica. In addition, Richard Koga, a carpenter who had worked to install the House at MoMA and Philadelphia, and had made repairs during the 1980s, realigned the chashitsu that had moved due to growing roots of an adjacent crab apple tree. Parts of the entry gate were replaced or repaired in the early 1990s by Toshihiro Sahara, a carpenter from Atlanta, Georgia, and the deteriorated edges of the veranda were trimmed off by Frank Kawasaki during the late 1980s. The friends group was involved in organizing the restoration work of the garden in 1982, which was funded through a grant from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. Part of the work for this restoration was the redesigning of the entry courtyard, which was done by landscape architect Masao Kinoshita of Urban Design Collaborative in Ohio. The problem of the fence, which surrounded only part of Shofuso, was resolved by the friends group in 1993, when a five foot high three rail ornamental black iron fence manufactured by Monumental Iron Works of Baltimore, Maryland, was put up by the Chester County Fence Company of West Chester, Pennsylvania (see Figure 7-1). The installed fence matched closely the architect Yoshimura’s suggestion over two decades before in 1970 of installing a wrought iron picket fence set in concrete. This new fence helped keep out vandals and thieves, as well as stray dogs roaming the Park. In addition, it was more aesthetically pleasing than the chain link fence that was initially suggested by the friends group in 1992. From the time of its formation, The Friends of the Japanese House and Garden has also regularly maintained Shofuso with much needed routine cleaning including once when the House is opened for the season and again when the house is closed. The guidelines outlined by the architect Yoshimura in his 1976 "Cleaning and Maintenance Manual for the Japanese House" are used. Programming is an important function for the friends group. Annual events include the Hanami Cherry Blossom Picnic which celebrates the coming of spring with a viewing of the cherry blossoms, a tour of the house and garden, and a potluck picnic. The Children’s Festival in May celebrates the traditional Japanese holidays of Girl’s Day and Boy’s Day with origami, koi wind socks and kimono displays, as well as storytelling, music and tea ceremony events. Tsukimi (moon viewing) allows quite moments of contemplation as visitors can watch the moon rise over Shofuso (see Figure 7-2). Tea ceremonies are held several times a year by the LaSalle University Urasenke Tea Program (see Figure 7-3). In addition, there are origami (paper folding), ikebana (flower arrangement) and rakuyaki (pottery) demonstrations every year. Click here to go to Chapter 8 |
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