The north courtyard of Alumni House is one of the most tranquil places on campus, a quality punctuated by the presence of two Japanese lanterns that stand within the adjacent garden. Not original to the site, the lanterns and their associated stones have had a nomadic and an ironically turbulent history.

The ensemble was a gift from the University of California Alumni Association of Japan in December 1934. Representing more than 150 alumni in Japan, art and cultural authority Jiro Harada, Class of 1905, conveyed their "sincere hope that the lanterns may stand for ages to come" in gratitude for the opportunity "to study in the great institution and inherit the tradition of the 'Blue and Gold.'"

The granite lanterns are of two traditional types. The taller of the pair, an approximately seven-foot-high standing, or tachigata, lantern supported by a cylindrical pedestal, was specially created as a replica of a famous 13th-century lantern at Sangatsudo Temple at the Todaiji Monastery, in the old capital of Nara. Also an example of the popular kasuga type—derived from the Shinto Kasuga shrine at Nara—it is characterized by a hexagonal lamp chamber open on two of its faces and covered by an upturned roof that is topped by a rounded finial.

Its four-foot-high companion represents the graceful yukimi, or snow-viewing, lantern, so named because of its picturesque appearance when snow gathers on its broad overhanging roof. Supported by four curved legs, its hexagonal light chamber is open on all sides.

The accompanying 26 stepping-stones and accessory rocks were also an integral element of the gift. In addition to providing practical access to the lanterns, their selection and placement were mindful of a Zen-influenced appreciation of their shape and texture. Great care was given to just how much of a stone or rock should be exposed to achieve the optimal appearance of its best features.

Before shipping the lanterns and stones, Harada, a member of the Imperial Household Museum in Tokyo, temporarily assembled them in the grounds of a temple so that drawings and photographs could be prepared to guide their installation at Berkeley. This also permitted the fine points of size, proportion, and scale to be studied: "Just how far... two rocks should be exposed was the subject of a heated discussion between a father and son, both excellent gardeners," Harada later commented, recalling his need to act as a mediator.

Upon their arrival at Berkeley, the lanterns and stones were set up originally along the north bank of the north branch of Strawberry Creek between (now Valley) Life Sciences Building and Agriculture (now Wellman) Hall. Four months later, on Easter Sunday 1935, President and Mrs. Robert Gordon Sproul hosted a tea for approximately 250 guests at the President’s (now University) House prior to dedicating the gift at the creek. The following year while on campus to lecture, Harada observed the installation for the first time and, remembering the passionate debate of his gardeners, added a little earth to adjust the embedment of some of the rocks. "I think there is now a bit of Japanese atmosphere on the bank of North Strawberry Creek," he observed. But within just a few years, the beauty and serenity of this setting would be disrupted.

During World War II, as campus construction declined, the grounds also received less attention and continued to suffer in the postwar years when the rapid rise in enrollment resulted in a displacement of landscaped areas by temporary buildings and makeshift parking lots. Creek banks became overgrown, and the lanterns and stones were neglected artifacts obscured by underbrush.

Not until summer 1951 did a student happen upon the site, finding the lanterns in disarray and damaged. The small snow-viewing lantern had suffered the most, becoming chipped and scarred, with its distinctive top displaced some feet away. Many of the stones that had been so thoughtfully arranged now lay strewn about. The desecration had clearly been deliberate, believed to have resulted from an outburst of anti-Japanese sentiment during the war.

Initially set back in place along the creek, the lanterns were later placed in storage to prevent further damage. Their restoration was made possible through the effort of retired campus landscape architect Ari Inouye ’36, who had met with Jiro Harada while studying in Japan for two years following his graduation. After collecting the scattered stones and having the battered lanterns repaired, Inouye reestablished the ensemble in 1980 at its present site, modifying the design of the Alumni House garden accordingly. Rededicated the following year, the lanterns became more visible than at their former creekside setting, while now standing near the creek’s south branch. Harada’s "bit of Japanese atmosphere" had been preserved, and the Alumni House is enhanced by the harmony and aesthetics of centuries-old tradition.

A former Berkeley campus planner, Helfand is the author and photographer of Campus Guide: The University of California, Berkeley, the authoritative guidebook to Cal’s 132-year-old campus.