Kaneji “Kan” Domoto (1912–2002) was an Oakland, CA native who studied architecture and landscape design at UC Berkeley. He was forcibly interned at the Granada War Relocation Center during WWII, interrupting his studies with Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin. During his detention, he designed camp gardens and tree plantings, interventions that were intended to foster communal healing. He approached design as a humanizing act of listening deeply and honoring his clients’ needs. In 1983, he won the prestigious Frederick Law Olmsted Award for his design of the Japanese Garden at Jackson Park in Chicago.

Where you can see his landscape designs:

• Sansuien Garden pool, UC Berkeley Botanical Garden

• Jackson Park Japanese Garden, Chicago

• New York Aquarium Penguin Pen, New York

Drawing by Michelle Morby; watercolor on paper, 2022.