This garden, named "The Garden of Goodwill", is a fascinating space in that its different stages of contruction, vandalization, and reconstruction coincide with fluctuations in the relationship between Japan and America. The garden is larger than itself; it has become a project of transnational interaction.

Because this garden does not have monetary profit as its end, it owes its existence to community efforts, changes in the international political climate, and cohesiveness.
In contrast to other Japanese-style gardens, especially those at restaurants, spas, or hotels, it does not participate in any claims of exoticism or cultural essentialization. Specifically, there are no claims of its Japanese authenticity, tranquility, or exotic nature. Instead, it has become a site of community education.

The history of this garden has followed the trajectory of pro-Japanese and anti-Japanese sentiment within America. With its creation in 1931 and its subsequent vandalization and abandonment after Pearl Harbor, this garden became a site where sentiments on a national level were played out.

The sudden increase in distrust and racism towards Japanese-Americans developed further into the destruction of Japanese-style gardens, such as the one at this school.

After World War II, the garden was left in disrepair, most likely due to the ignorance of its former existence. In 1995, the garden became a site for the expression of changes in American culture.

As Kendall Brown states in his article "Territories of Play", Japanese-American gardeners and landscapers became aware of their works as metonyms for larger cultural implications: "Aware of both the hostility facing them and of the popularity of Japanese-style gardens, Japanese immigrants built gardens as a way of smoothing the path of acceptance in American society by emphasizing the most attractive manifestations of their culture".

While Brown's own interpretation of what is "most attractive" about Japanese-American culture is subjective, the mindset of the parents in 1931 must have followed this line of thinking. Even in the 1990s, Lew Watanabe must have been aware of the implications of reconciliation that the reconstruction of the garden allowed.

With this "Garden of Goodwill", we see the cultural communication implied and stated in the site of the Japanese-style garden in California.