Makoto Hagiwara

Makoto Hagiwara (1854-1925)

Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive (Golden Gate Park, San Francisco)

Makoto Hagiwara was born in Japan and immigrated to San Francisco in 1878. He was a landscape designer and was appointed to design the Japanese Village exhibit in Golden Gate Park for the 1894 California Midwinter International Exposition. Makoto was manager of the place until anti-Asian immigration legislation led to his removal from the position. After the exhibit, the Japanese Village became the Japanese Tea Garden. In 1906, Makoto returned to be manager and continued his mission to expand and improve the Garden until his death in 1925.

(Portrait by Cynthia Ashton, SFSU 2014)