Culver City has many sister cities, and the relationship with Kaizuka, Japan goes back over 60 years. Since 1975, the meditation garden in the front of the Culver City Julian Dixon Library has had a working water wheel. A new wheel will be installed later this Spring to replace the old one.
Woodcraft is part of the heritage of Kaizuka, and many of the Sister City visitors over the years have returned to California with souvenir wooden combs; these have been made in Japan as early as the 1600’s, and are both historic artifacts and new creations.
Culver City is welcoming a new water wheel with the same double designation.
A newly crafted water wheel, built in Japan, will be on display at City Hall for the next few weeks before its permanent installation at the Kaizuka Garden in front of the library.
Originally gifted as part of a traditional Japanese meditation garden, the water wheel has long been a cherished feature of the space. Because meditation gardens are designed to engage all of the senses, the sound of falling water is as essential to the balance of the garden as the green of the plants.
Over time, the original wheel deteriorated – since 1975, that’s a lot of water – but thanks to the generosity and collaboration of the City of Kaizuka, the Culver City Rotary Club, and the Culver City Public Works Department, it has been beautifully recreated.
This installation follows the recent restoration of the meditation garden in celebration of its 50th anniversary. Community members are invited to visit City Hall to view this unique cultural piece before it is installed and becomes a working feature of the garden once again.
The water wheel will be officially dedicated later this April as part of the continued celebration of the Kaizuka–Culver City Sister City friendship.
Judith Martin-Straw
Photo caption (L to R) Shelly Wolfberg, Culver City Gov’t and Legislative Affairs, Craig Schoenbaum, Co-President of the Culver City Sister City Committee, Ryan Drnek, Landscape Architect Project Coordinator, and Sally Unsworth, Cultural Affairs Manager.
