Koichi Kawana


Koichi Kawana was a native garden designer, college professor, and architect. He designed gardens in San Diego, Los Angeles, Denver, Colorado, Chicago, Illinois, Memphis, Tennessee, and St. Louis, Missouri. Some of his major works include the Seiwa-en Japanese Garden in the Missouri Botanical Garden and the Japanese Friendship Garden in San Diego's Balboa Park.

Life

In 1930, Kawana was born in Hokkaido, Japan. He graduated from Yokohama Municipal University in 1951 and got a US citizenship in 1971. Kawana became a college professor and lecturer for 24 years at UCLA on Japanese art, environmental design, and Japanese landscape/architecture. Kawana died on March 16, 1990.
Aside from lecturing at UCLA, Kawana designed gardens at several parks in the United States, mainly having a Japanese style.