Saratoga Tutors

About Saratoga

Named after Saratoga Springs in New York, Saratoga is a stunning, mainly residential community on the west side of the Santa Clara Valley. It’s sister city is Muko, Japan and Saratoga is home to one of the oldest Japanese gardens (in the United States) “Hakone Gardens” which has beautiful landscaping, bridges and traditional Japanese tea houses for tea ceremonies. Hakone Gardens attracts thousands of tourists each year who walk through the strolling gardens and marvel at the picturesque scenery surrounding them. As the native Japanese plant life is so well established one could be forgiven for opening ones eyes and thinking that they were in Japan.

The garden is the vision of Oliver and Isabel Stine who frequently traveled to Kyoto and had wanted to create a summer retreat in their home country with the same aesthetic. They were able in 1915 to easily purchase the 18 acres where the park is located today, and then Isabel sought out a team of highly skilled artisans and architects and worked closely with them to recreate a traditional Japanese garden with Japanese style attention to detail. The park has since changed ownership a handful of times up until it was offered for sale to the City of Saratoga in 1966. At that point maintaining and restoring the many beautiful aspects of the park has been paramount. Since the year 2000 the upkeep has been the privilege of “The Hakone Foundation” a non-profit who work tirelessly to preserve this magical place.

In 2005 the movie version of Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of a Geisha was released in the U.S. and won numerous awards. The story is of a young ‘maiko’ who against all odds becomes one of the most desirable Geisha off her time. The film won awards for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design and was filmed with the backdrop (in many scenes) of the Hakone Gardens in Saratoga. The film received mixed reviews from western critics who thought that the film failed to be politically correct. There was especially criticism surrounding the casting of Chinese actress Li Gong as a supporting female lead, as well as other cast members Tsai Chin, Samantha Futerman and Elizabeth Sung who were not from Japan.

Hakone Gardens are open to the public and often used as a beautiful backdrop for special occasions and photography. They also open their doors to local cultural events that take advantage of the community facilities available onsite. One of which is the Cultural Exchange Center, a replica of a Kyoto tea merchant’s tea-house where traditional tea ceremonies are regularly held.