Japanese gardener left legacy of perfection

William Shinichi Yorozu was known to drive to the top of Snoqualmie Pass to find the perfect boulder for a Japanese-garden project. In the garden, he often would move a boulder several times until he got it in just the right place, burying one-third of it to make it look natural.

His skillful, hardworking and fastidious approach made him one of Seattle's most respected Japanese gardeners. He was general contractor for the Japanese Garden in Washington Park and helped build Pioneer Square's Waterfall Garden Park. He was a founding member of the Seattle Japanese Gardeners Association.

He died last Monday (March 27) at 92. He and his wife, Yae Akai Yorozu, would have celebrated their 61st wedding anniversary next Saturday. He also is survived by his four children, two of whom run the T. Yorozu Gardening Co. that their father founded.

Those who knew Mr. Yorozu said he was a soft-spoken patriarch who earned respect with his generosity and kindness.

"He truly valued the family unit," said his daughter, Christine Yorozu. "By being the oldest in the family, everyone looked up to him."

Mr. Yorozu was born in the Kent Valley and grew up in Seattle. He graduated from Garfield High School and attended the University of Washington and Washington State University. In 1942, he received a bachelor of science degree in horticulture from WSU with a major in landscape design.

After college, he and his brother took over the family business. Mr. Yorozu won awards for his work, including the American Association of Nurserymen's National Landscape Award, which was presented at the White House by then first lady Nancy Reagan.

"He was very conscientious about his work," said Raymond Brauner, a local landscape architect. "He took a lot of pride in what his end product was. He hated to see anything that was halfway done."

During the years that Mr. Yorozu and his brother ran the gardening company, they took on dozens of summer workers, many of them Japanese-American high-school and college students.

Goro Tokita, 62, said Mr. Yorozu taught him to work in the late 1950s when Tokita was a teenager. Mr. Yorozu caught Tokita playing football across the street from a job one day, Tokita said. Instead of getting angry, Mr. Yorozu drove Tokita home and told him to tell his older brother why he was home early. Tokita said his brother "laid into me."

The experience taught him to keep busy, even after a task was done. "He never raised his voice, but I was scared of him when I worked for him, not because he was mean, but because I knew he expected so much of me," Tokita said.

Mr. Yorozu had complications after open-heart surgery eight years ago. Since then, he had been unable to walk. He had a hard time communicating and was in a nursing home, said his son, David Yorozu.

On Sunday, March 26, the family got together for dinner on the Kitsap Peninsula. There was a short debate about whether Mr. Yorozu should go because of his health, but someone picked him up and he spent the evening having barbecued turkey with three generations of his extended family at his daughter's house.

"He was so happy," David Yorozu said.

Mr. Yorozu died early the next morning.

His four children all live in the Seattle area. Besides daughter Christine and son David, he is survived by daughter A. Joyce Yorozu Larson and son Kenneth T. Yorozu. Mr. Yorozu is also survived by his sister, Stella Takahashi of San Francisco, and his brother, Arthur S. Yorozu of the Seattle area.

A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Blaine Memorial United Methodist Church, 3001 24th Ave. S in Seattle.

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com