Brooklyn Botanic Garden Presented with Peace Lantern from Japan Institute of Portland Japanese Garden

On June 29, 2024, Brooklyn Botanic Garden received the gift of a Peace Lantern from the Portland Japanese Garden’s Japan Institute. The stone lantern was formally presented by Steve Bloom, CEO of Japan Institute of Portland Japanese Garden, to Adrian Benepe, president and CEO of Brooklyn Botanic Garden, in a dedication ceremony in BBG’s Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, where the lantern is now installed. Bloom and Benepe were joined by thought leaders and Garden supporters in welcoming the new lantern to BBG’s iconic Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden. 
 
This gift is inspired by one that Portland received from Yokohama mayor Ryōzō Hiranuma in 1955 as a symbol of reconciliation and tranquility in the years following World War II. This original lantern can be found in Portland Japanese Garden, where it has been located since 1966. 
 
This is the first Peace Lantern gift from Japan Institute to a U.S. site. The institute previously gifted Peace Lanterns to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum Square, and the International House of Japan in Tokyo, as well as London’s Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Adrian Benepe of Brooklyn Botanic Garden says: “Brooklyn Botanic Garden is honored to receive this symbol of peace for our Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden. We thank Japan Institute of Portland Japanese Garden for bestowing this beautiful lantern, which represents the friendship and shared mission between our two institutions as well as unity among all the Peace Lantern sites. Generations of New Yorkers and visitors from around the world have come to BBG’s Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden to find tranquility and restoration, and generations more will encounter and be inspired by this new symbol of peace.” 
 
Steve Bloom of Japan Institute of Portland Japanese Garden says: “Japan Institute was borne from what we have witnessed at Portland Japanese Garden for nearly 60 years—how the intersection of culture, art, and nature can help provide a better understanding of ourselves and one another. As a leading global public garden, Brooklyn Botanic Garden is proof that these kinds of institutions have an important role to play in fostering mutual understanding, community-building, and social change. In recognition of these shared values, we present a gift of a Peace Lantern as a tangible symbol of cultural diplomacy, friendship, and peace.” 
 
Created by one of Japan’s greatest living stonemasons as a striking replica of the original lantern, this yukimi doro (stone lantern with legs) is styled in the snow lantern form: The firebox is directly underneath a broad sloping roof resembling a traditional Japanese hat made from kasa (rush). It features a message of hope inscribed in capital letters: “CASTING THE LIGHT OF EVERLASTING PEACE.” The lantern is placed at the western entrance to the Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden, a beacon of harmony situated alongside a bridge leading to one of BBG’s most beloved spaces. 
 

Photo credit: Sean Chee