Amache Remembered: Unearthing Stories, Cultivating Legacy- Episode 8- NAJGA Japanese Garden Podcast

Learn more about our guests and see pictures of Amache at: najga.org/amache

In this special episode of the NAJGA podcast, hosts Jan Liverance and Marisa Rodriguez are joined by two remarkable guests—Dr. Bonnie Clark and Greg Kitajima—for a moving conversation about gardens, resilience, and the enduring legacy of Amache.

Dr. Bonnie Clark is professor and curator for archaeology in the University of Denver’s Anthropology Department. Since 2005, her primary research focus has been the Amache Community Archeology Project, a collaborative endeavor committed to preserving, researching, and interpreting the tangible remains of Amache, the World War II Japanese American incarceration camp in Colorado. She is author of Finding Solace in the Soil, coeditor of Archaeological Landscapes on the High Plains, and coauthor of Denver: An Archaeological History.

Greg Kitajima is an independent Certified Aesthetic Pruner based in Santa Barbara, and currently serves on the board of the Amache Alliance. He spent 14 years pruning and maintaining the Japanese Garden at Ganna Walska Lotusland, apprenticing for eight of those years under Frank Fujii—the garden’s original designer and caretaker for 45 years. In addition to his training at Lotusland, Greg has also studied Japanese gardens and pine pruning in Japan, and has trained with Dennis Makishima on the art of Aesthetic Pruning.

Together, they paint a vivid picture of Amache’s landscape, past and present—sharing stories of discovery, reflection, and the power of place. From archaeological fieldwork to family narratives and garden traditions, this episode invites listeners to consider why the legacy of Amache still matters, and how we continue to carry these stories forward.