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Some new growth at Philadelphia's Shofuso Japanese House

They say the best time to visit Shofuso, the Japanese house and garden in West Fairmount Park, is when it rains. It's not complicated: You sit or stand on the veranda of the house and quietly look - and listen. The sights and sounds are exquisite - water trilling down the rain chains, rolling cleanly off the roof, slipping silently into the pond. There's a little wind, maybe, some shivering leaves and needles and the tap of crossing branches of the Eastern white pines and Japanese maples.

Derek Finn, Site and Program Manager, stands by a Buddha statue in the garden. The Shofuso Japanese House and Garden was the first Japanese garden in North America. It began as part of an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Designed by Yoshimura Junzo in 1953, the house was built in Nagoya, Japan, using traditional materials and techniques. The house was built as part of "The House in the Museum Garden" series and moved to Philadelphia when the exhibition closed. ( Charles Fox / Staff Photographer )
Derek Finn, Site and Program Manager, stands by a Buddha statue in the garden. The Shofuso Japanese House and Garden was the first Japanese garden in North America. It began as part of an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Designed by Yoshimura Junzo in 1953, the house was built in Nagoya, Japan, using traditional materials and techniques. The house was built as part of "The House in the Museum Garden" series and moved to Philadelphia when the exhibition closed. ( Charles Fox / Staff Photographer )Read more
    by Virginia A. Smith, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
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