James McDonald Gardiner

James McDonald Gardiner (May 22, 1857 – November 25, 1925) was an American architect, lay Anglican church missionary and educator who lived and worked in Japan during the Meiji period.

Early life and education Gardiner was born May 22, 1857 in St. Louis, Missouri, son of James McDonald and Margaret McCartney (Gordon) Gardiner, who was from a Jewish family.

Other than St. Agnes Cathedral (Kyoto), other buildings of note designed by Gardiner and still preserved in Japan include St. John's Church, Kyoto (1907), now in the historic building collection at Meiji-mura, and the former residence of Sadatsuchi Uchida, known as The Diplomat's House (1910), since 1995 a feature of the Italian Garden park in Yamate, Yokohama. Additionally, Ascension Church in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, completed in 1921.

Grave located at the True Light Church, Nikkō, Tochigi, Japan; an Anglican church of his own design.

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Family Married Florence Rhodes Pitman, Principal of St. Margaret's School for Girls, Tokyo in 1882. One son; James Lawrence McDonald Gardiner and Three daughters; Hasu no Hana, Ernestine and Lillian. Eldest daughter, Hasu no Hana, married Episcopal missionary, Shirley Hall Nichols in 1916. In 1925 Nichols was elected to serve as the Episcopal Bishop of Kyoto.