Japanese-style gardens around the state of Michigan

As noted in the monthly newsletter from the Consulate General in Detroit: 

In Michigan, these include the DeVos Japanese Garden at the Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, the Tokushima-Saginaw Friendship Garden at the Japanese Cultural Center in Saginaw, and the Japanese Garden at Cranbrook Educational Community in Bloomfield Hills.

And from the Flickr account for the Michigan-Shiga Sister State Board, there is an album filled with the Japanese-style grounds at Meijer Gardens,  

See also the Consulate's Youtube channel, where a 2021 movie has been linked which recounts the sister-city exchanges, origins, and special features between Michigan and Shiga-prefecture, with particular attention to the one between Konan-city (formerly Ishibe & Kosei-cho, but merged in 2005) and St. Johns, Michigan, https://youtu.be/yLuHQsgs3Yk

 

Early December 2019 snow, Japanese pond and path at Meijer Garden

Scenes from the beginning of December in Grand Rapids 49525 at www.meijergardens.org
(click on the photo for larger view)

panorama with tea house in middle distance, waterfalls at the opposite shore

tea house to the right and early ice starting to form in the middle distance on the pond of the Japanese-style garden

visitors to the Japanese-style garden are greeted with this stonework

waterfall flows and helps to keep the pond oxygenated during the ice season

sculpture by Zhang Huan borders the pond pathway

part of the covered boat landing and tea house across the water

gently arched bridge in middle distance, tea house in foreground

peninsula (misaki, cape) with stone lantern at waterline

gazebo on the peninsula looks toward tea house (right) and hilltop

dry (rock) garden in Zen style, islands in a sea of pebble waves

hilltop viewing point shows the walkway of many turns in the distance

Japanese Garden after the leaves fall, late November

The early afternoon was sunny in the run-up to the Thanksgiving week 2019 in Grand Rapids.
The visitors who came to the Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park were rewarded with this view atop the viewing point at the Japanese Garden. (3 images stitched into panorama).

looking north from viewpoint above the Japanese Teahouse in the middle distance

The monthly Sunday afternoon visits to the Japanese Teahouse run from May to October normally. So by now the access paths and the building itself is closed off until 2020.

Visiting the Japanese Tea House at Meijer Gardens

pond side of the tea house showing transitional space: inside to outside

During the mild weather from May to October there is normally a Sunday afternoon each month from 1 to 4 during which visitors can tour the building and grounds. Here are a few scenes from September 2019, a few weeks before the fall colors were well developed.