This list of Japanese gardens in the United States contains gardens, museums, institutions and other organizations which features gardens designed and created in traditional Japanese style that are open to the public.
Name | Town/City | State | Summary |
---|---|---|---|
Anderson Japanese Gardens | Rockford | Illinois | 12 acres, established in 1978 |
Japanese Peace Garden | Moses Lake | Washington | 4 acres |
ABQ BioPark Botanic Garden | Albuquerque | New Mexico | Includes the four-acre Sasebo Japanese Garden designed by Toru Tanaka, opened in 2007 |
Asticou Azalea Garden | Northeast Harbor | Maine | 2.3 acres, styled after a Japanese stroll garden |
Atlanta Botanical Garden | Atlanta | Georgia | Includes a small Japanese garden begun in Piedmont Park in the 1960s before the Atlanta Botanical Garden was chartered |
Bainbridge Public Library | Bainbridge Island | Washington | Website, Japanese garden on the west side of the library designed in 1998[1] |
Bellevue Botanical Garden | Bellevue | Washington | Yao Gardens is a Japanese-style stroll garden |
Bellingrath Gardens and Home | Theodore | Alabama | Includes the Asian-American Garden with elements of Japanese and Chinese gardens[2] |
Birmingham Botanical Gardens | Birmingham | Alabama | Includes the 7.5 acre Japanese Gardens with a tea garden, the karesansui garden, hill and stream garden, small stroll garden |
Bloedel Reserve | Bainbridge Island | Washington | 150-acre (0.6 km2) forest garden with a formal Japanese garden and Japanese guesthouse |
The Botanic Garden at Oklahoma State University | Stillwater | Oklahoma | Includes a Japanese dry garden or kara san sei, and a Japanese tea garden |
Brooklyn Botanic Garden | Brooklyn | New York | Includes the 3-acre Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden (opened in 1915) and the C. V. Starr Bonsai Museum |
Brookside Gardens | Wheaton | Maryland | Includes a Gude Garden and a teahouse |
Byodo-In Temple | Kaneohe | Hawaii | Located in Valley of the Temples Memorial Park, non-denominational shrine that is a replica of a 900-year-old Buddhist temple at Uji, landscaped gardens, established in 1968 |
California Scenario at South Coast Plaza | Costa Mesa | California | 1.5 acre sculpture garden designed by Isamu Noguchi, part of the upscale-luxury goods shopping center[3][4] |
Central Washington University Japanese Garden | Ellensburg | Washington | Designed by Masa Mizuno, located next to the Student Union Center[5] |
Charles Wood Japanese Garden | Mobile | Alabama | Website, designed by Takeo Uesugi[6][7] |
Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art | Nashville | Tennessee | 55-acre botanical garden includes the Shomu-en, the pine-mist garden |
Chicago Botanic Garden | Glencoe | Illinois | Includes the Elizabeth Hubert Malott Japanese Garden, a 17-acre lakeside garden with three islands, also a collection of nearly 200 bonsai |
Cleveland Botanical Garden | Cleveland | Ohio | Includes a Japanese garden designed by David Slawson, was a gift of Ikebana International, Chapter 20, in 1975[8] |
Como Park Zoo and Conservatory | Saint Paul | Minnesota | The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory includes the Charlotte Partridge Ordway Japanese Garden and a bonsai collection |
Culver City Julian Dixon Library Kaizuka Meditation Garden | Culver City | California | Website |
Dawes Arboretum | Newark | Ohio | The Japanese Garden features a meditation house, pond and rock garden and was designed in 1963 by Dr. Makoto Nakamura.[9] |
Delaware Park Japanese Garden | Buffalo | New York | Located by the Buffalo History Museum, 6-acre friendship garden with Kanazawa |
Denver Botanic Gardens | Denver | Colorado | The Japanese Garden is called Shofu-en—the Garden of Wind and Pines,[10] and was designed by Koichi Kawana[11] in collaboration with Kai Kwahara.[12] |
Descanso Gardens | La Cañada Flintridge | California | Includes a Japanese teahouse and a Japanese-style garden designed by Whitney Smith and built in 1966. |
Dubuque Arboretum and Botanical Gardens | Dubuque | Iowa | Includes a Japanese garden designed by Hoichi Kurisu, covers 14 acres, including a 4-1/2 acre lake. This is a chisen kaiyu-shiki or “wet strolling garden.” |
Duke Farms | Hillsborough | New Jersey | The Japanese section includes a small teahouse, a wood bridge, fuji, azaleas, primrose, crocus, and a karesansui dry garden. |
Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden | Long Beach | California | 1.3 acres on the campus of California State University, Long Beach |
East–West Center | Honolulu | Hawaii | Features a "Seien" (Serene Garden), a Japanese garden designed by Kenzo Ogata of Tokyo, and located behind Jefferson Hall, and a teahouse |
Fabyan Villa | Geneva | Illinois | Features a one-acre garden installed in 1910, designed by Taro Otsuka, includes a pond, waterfall, moon bridge, oversized lantern and teahouse. |
Fernwood Botanical Garden and Nature Preserve | Buchanan Township | Michigan | Includes a Japanese "dry" garden designed by Ben Oki (1979), Curator of Bonsai at the Huntington Botanical Gardens |
Fort Worth Japanese Garden | Fort Worth | Texas | 7.5-acre garden in the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, built in 1973 |
Four Rivers Cultural Center | Ontario | Oregon | Website, includes a 1.3-acre garden dedicated to as a memorial to Japanese Americans interned during World War II and to the Japanese Americans who for the U.S. in WWII |
Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens | Columbus | Ohio | Includes a bonsai display |
Fuller Gardens | North Hampton | New Hampshire | Summer estate of Alvan T. Fuller, includes a Japanese garden with koi pond |
Furman University Asian Garden | Greenville | South Carolina | Almost 2 acres, Japanese and Asian elements, includes a Hei-Sei-Ji temple that was originally standing in Nagoya |
Ganna Walska Lotusland | Montecito | California | The Japanese Garden includes a Shinto shrine and koi pond. |
Garden of Serenity | Bethlehem | Pennsylvania | Outside the Bethlehem Area Public Library, designed by Yoshinaga Sakon in 1971, gift from the twin city of Tondabayashi, includes raked sands, bonsai and topiary bushes, and a tea house.[13][14] |
Garden of the Phoenix at Jackson Park | Chicago | Illinois | A peace garden originally built in 1893 for the World's Columbian Exposition |
Gardena Mayme Dear Library Japanese Garden | Gardena | California | Website, opened in 1964, designed by Takuma Tono |
Gardens of the World | Thousand Oaks | California | Website, the Japanese garden features an authentic Japanese Pagoda and koi pond |
Garvan Woodland Gardens | Hot Springs | Arkansas | Features the 4-acre Garden of the Pine Wind, designed by David Slawson, includes 300 varieties of Asian ornamental plants, a 'Full Moon Bridge', three cascades, a 12-foot waterfall, two springs, four pools and a pond. |
George and Sakaye Aratani Japanese Garden at Cal Poly Pomona | Pomona | California | Website, 1.3 acres (0.53 ha) Japanese garden built in 2003 and designed by Takeo Uesugi, adjacent to the CLA Building and the W.K. Kellogg Commemorative Rose Garden[15] |
Hakone Gardens | Saratoga | California | 18-acre Japanese estate, retreat and gardens, includes a bamboo garden, Zen garden, strolling garden, tea houses, and the Cultural Exchange Center, which is an authentic reproduction of a 19th-century Kyoto tea merchant's house and shop. |
Hammond Museum and Japanese Stroll Garden | North Salem | New York | About 7 acres, exhibits of Eastern and Western art and programs |
Hannah Carter Japanese Garden | Los Angeles | California | Currently not open to the public, completed in 1961, emphasizes water, stones, and evergreen plants. |
Haverford College Arboretum | Haverford | Pennsylvania | Includes the Denis Asian Garden and Teaf Memorial Zen-style Garden adjoining the Dining Center |
Hayward Japanese Gardens | Hayward | California | Designed by Kimio Kimura, over 3 acres, includes a koi pond, teahouse and viewing pavilions set along a ravine |
Heathcote Botanical Gardens | Fort Pierce | Florida | Features the James J. Smith Bonsai Gallery with 100 bonsai trees, and a Japanese garden designed by Mollie Crimmins in the 1960s |
Hermann Park | Houston | Texas | The Japanese Garden was designed by Ken Nakajima in 1992, includes a teahouse, waterfalls, bridges, and stone paths that wander among crepe myrtles, azaleas, Japanese maples, dogwoods and cherry trees. |
Hershey Gardens | Hershey | Pennsylvania | Includes a Japanese garden with rare giant sequoias, Dawn Redwood trees, Japanese maples and more. |
Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens | Washington D.C. | D.C. | Includes a Japanese garden designed by landscape architect Shogo Myaida, features a stream and pond, combines native and Japanese plants including Japanese pines, Colorado blue spruce, maples, azaleas, and false cypress. |
Huntington Library Botanical Garden | San Marino | California | The Japanese Garden features a moon bridge, a large bell, the authentic ceremonial teahouse Seifu-an (the Arbor of Pure Breeze), a fully furnished Japanese house, koi-filled ponds, the Zen Garden, and the bonsai collections with hundreds of trees. |
Ichimura Miami Japanese Garden | Miami | Florida | Website, located on Watson Island |
Innisfree Garden | Millbrook | New York | 150-acre garden, merges the essence of Modernist and Romantic ideas with traditional Chinese and Japanese garden design |
International Peace Gardens | Salt Lake City | Utah | Includes a Japanese garden |
Ippakutei Tea House, Embassy of Japan | Washington D.C. | D.C. | Website, authentic Japanese tea house and replica of the rock garden at Ryōan-ji, open for events by the Japan Information & Culture Center |
Japanese Friendship Garden | San Diego | California | 12 acres, located in Balboa Park, landscape designed by Takeo Uesugi, includes a bonsai collection and teahouse |
Japanese Friendship Garden | San Jose | California | 5.5 acres, located in Kelley Park, includes three koi ponds, patterned after Japan's famous Korakuen Garden in Okayama |
Japanese Garden | Lodi | California | 3 acres, located in Micke Grove Regional Park, designed by Nagao Sakurai |
The Japanese Garden | Los Angeles | California | Located in Van Nuys, 6.5 acres (2.6 ha) public Japanese garden located on the grounds of the Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in the Sepulveda Basin Recreation Area of the central San Fernando Valley, designed by Dr. Koichi Kawana and created from 1980 to 1983 |
The Japanese Garden at the Stillwater Community Center | Stillwater | Oklahoma | Opened in 1997 as a showcase of the relationship between Stillwater and Kameoka as sister cities |
Japanese Tea Garden at Central Park | San Mateo | California | Website, designed by Nagao Sakurai, features a granite pagoda, tea house, koi pond and bamboo grove |
Japanese Tea Garden | San Francisco | California | 3 acres, located in Golden Gate Park, oldest public Japanese garden in the United States, designed by Makoto Hagiwara, includes ponds, a pagoda, moon bridge and a teahouse |
Japanese-American Cultural and Community Center | Los Angeles | California | Website, includes the James Irvine Japanese Garden, also known as Seiryu-en or "Garden of the Clear Stream", designed by Takeo Uesugi & Associates[16] |
JC Raulston Arboretum | Raleigh | North Carolina | Administered by North Carolina State University, includes a Zen garden of raked gravel and hand-crafted wooden and stone features |
Jo Ryo En Japanese Garden at Carleton College | Northfield | Minnesota | Located behind Watson Hall, opened in 1976[17] |
John P. Humes Japanese Stroll Garden | Mill Neck | New York | 4 acres, includes a tea house in the shoin-dzukuri style of the Ashikaga period, tea garden, stone lanterns, mosses, waterfall, pond; may be closed |
Kubota Garden | Seattle | Washington | 20 acres with 4.5-acre landscaped core, started in 1927 by Fujitaro Kubota |
Kyoto Gardens of Honolulu Memorial Park | Honolulu | Hawaii | Cemetery with three-tiered Sanju Pagoda, Kinkaku-ji Temple, and Mirror Gardens |
Kyoto Garden at Oklahoma Science Museum | Oklahoma City | Oklahoma | Gifted to the State of Oklahoma in 1984 as a symbol of friendship between Kyoto and Oklahoma. It was restored in 2022 by the Japan America Society of Oklahoma with the help of Kyoto Master Gardeners |
Lakeside Park | Oakland | California | Website, includes a Japanese garden, bonsai garden and Torii gate garden at the Gardens at Lake Merritt |
Lauritzen Gardens | Omaha | Nebraska | Planned Japanese garden |
Lendonwood Gardens | Grove | Oklahoma | Includes the Japanese Pavilion Garden with a koi pond |
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden | Richmond | Virginia | Includes the Asian Valley |
Liliuokalani Park and Gardens | Hilo | Hawaii | 30 acres, Edo-style Japanese gardens with bridges, koi ponds, pagodas, statues, torii, and a Japanese teahouse |
Lithia Park | Ashland | Oregon | Includes a Japanese garden |
Manito Park and Botanical Gardens | Spokane | Washington | Includes the Nishinomiya Tsutakawa Japanese Garden designed in 1967 by Nagao Sakurai |
Massee Lane Gardens | Fort Valley | Georgia | Includes the Abendroth Japanese Garden with a tea house and koi |
Maymont Japanese Garden | Richmond | Virginia | Features a koi pond, large waterfall, torii gate, rock gardens |
Memphis Botanic Garden | Memphis | Tennessee | Includes the Japanese Garden of Tranquility (1965, 1989), designed by Dr. P. T. Tono, Tokyo; redesigned by Dr. Koichi Kawana |
Miami Beach Botanical Garden | Miami Beach | Florida | Includes a Japanese garden |
Micke Grove Regional Park Japanese Garden | Lodi | California | Website, designed by Nagao Sakurai and dedicated in 1965 |
Minnesota Landscape Arboretum | Chaska | Minnesota | “Seisui Tei” or Garden of Pure Water reflects a style of Japanese Garden from the Edo Period, designed by Koichi Kawana in 1985, maintained under the direction of Dr. David Slawson[18] |
Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens | Delray Beach | Florida | Includes two museum buildings, the Roji-en Japanese Gardens: Garden of the Drops of Dew and a bonsai garden |
Muscatine Art Center Japanese Garden | Muscatine | Iowa | Small Japanese-style garden built around 1930 for Laura Musser McColm of Muscatine |
Mytoi | Chappaquiddick Island | Massachusetts | Operated by The Trustees of Reservations on Martha's Vineyard |
National Museum of the Pacific War | Fredericksburg | Texas | Includes the Japanese Garden of Peace, established in 1976[19] |
New Orleans Botanical Garden | New Orleans | Louisiana | Includes the Yakumo Nihon Teien Japanese Garden |
New York Botanical Garden | Bronx | New York | Includes a 2.5-acre Japanese rock garden |
Norfolk Botanical Garden | Norfolk | Virginia | The Japanese Garden (1962) was created to honor Norfolk's sister city, Moji, Japan, and rededicated in 1962 to Kitakyushu, formerly Moji; redesigned and refurbished in 1995.[20] |
Normandale Community College Japanese Garden | Bloomington | Minnesota | 2 acres[21] |
Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens | Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | Includes the Japanese Courtyard Garden (1991) with bonsai, designed by Hoichi Kurisu |
Pine Bluff Japanese Garden | Pine Bluff | Arkansas | Located at the Pine Bluff Civic Center, was a gift from Pine Bluff's Sister City, Iwai City, Japan[22] |
Point Defiance Park | Tacoma | Washington | The Japanese garden features a pagoda built in 1914 as a streetcar station |
Portland Japanese Garden | Portland | Oregon | 5.5 acres, features the Strolling Pond Garden, Natural Garden, Sand and Stone Garden, Flat Garden and Tea Garden |
Ro Ho En - Japanese Friendship Garden of Phoenix | Phoenix | Arizona | 3.5 acre Japanese stroll garden with a tea garden and tea house |
Rotary Botanical Gardens | Janesville | Wisconsin | Built in 1989, the Japanese garden includes gates, fences, a dry gravel sea, stones, a waterfall, stream, Japanese lanterns and other elements. |
San Antonio Botanical Garden | San Antonio | Texas | Includes Kumamoto En Japanese Garden, built in 1989, patterned after the Suizenji Park in Kumamoto |
San Antonio Japanese Tea Garden | San Antonio | Texas | 11 acres, located in Brackenridge Park, includes shaded walkways, stone bridges, a 60-foot waterfall and ponds filled with koi |
San Francisco Botanical Garden | San Francisco | California | Includes a Japanese-design moon-viewing garden |
San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin | San Jose | California | Website, located in Japantown, temple's garden includes a pagoda, a small bridge and topiaried plants[23] |
San Jose Japanese Friendship Garden | San Jose | California | Website, located in Kelley Park, temple's garden design was donated to San Jose from city of Okayama using Korakuen as an inspiration and built by volunteers from the Japanese American community in 1957–1960. The 6 acre garden includes a very large koi pond, Teahouse available for rent, many old pagodas, reflection lantern, zig-zag bridge, cherry blossom tree section, waterfall, curved walkways, a moon bridge, many bridges, artistic rocks and topiaried plants |
Santa Barbara Botanic Garden | Santa Barbara | California | Includes an authentic Japanese teahouse and demonstration garden[24] |
Satsuki Gardens | Grove | Oklahoma | Designed by Dr. Leonard Miller |
Seattle Japanese Garden | Seattle | Washington | 3.5 acres, designed by Kiyoshi Inoshita and Juki Iida, completed in 1959 |
Seiwa-en at Missouri Botanical Garden | St. Louis | Missouri | 14-acre Japanese strolling garden, designed by Dr. Koichi Kawana |
Sherman Library and Gardens | Newport Beach | California | Includes a Japanese garden |
Shinwa-En Japanese Garden at CSU Dominguez Hills | Carson | California | Designed in 1978 by Haruo Yamashiro, includes a tea house, located in the courtyard of the Social and Behavioral Sciences building[25] |
Shinzen Japanese Garden | Fresno | California | Located in Woodward Park, 5-acre Japanese stroll garden opened in 1981 and designed by Paul Saito, includes a teahouse |
Shiojiri Niwa | Mishawaka | Indiana | Website, 1.3-acre Japanese strolling garden in Merrifield Park |
Shofuso Japanese House and Garden | Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | 17th century-style Japanese house and 1.2-acre garden |
Shore Acres State Park | Coos Bay | Oregon | Includes a Japanese-style garden built around a 100-foot lily pond |
Shoto-Teien Japanese Gardens | Sioux Falls | South Dakota | Website part of Terrace Park[26][27] |
Sister City Park | Shawnee | Oklahoma | |
Sister Mary Grace Burns Arboretum | Lakewood Township | New Jersey | Part of Georgian Court University, the Japanese Garden was designed by Takeo Shiota[28] |
Smith College Botanic Garden and Lyman Plant House | Northampton | Massachusetts | Website, includes a Japanese garden |
Sonnenberg Gardens | Canandaigua | New York | The Japanese garden features miniature mountainous Japanese landscape, with torii gates and a tea house. |
Springfield Botanical Gardens at Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park | Springfield | Missouri | Website, includes the 7.5-acre Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden with a koi lake, moon bridge, meditation garden, and tea house |
Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens | Akron | Ohio | Includes a Japanese garden designed in 1916 by T.R. Otsuka and Warren Manning |
Stanley Park | Westfield | Massachusetts | Includes an Asian garden and Japanese tea house |
Storrier-Stearns Japanese Garden | Pasadena | California | 1.45-acre (0.59 ha) hill and pond strolling garden, the "chisen kaiyu shiki" form |
Swiss Pines | Malvern | Pennsylvania | Currently closed. |
Tenshin-en at Museum of Fine Arts | Boston | Massachusetts | Contemplative indoor Japanese garden[29] |
Japanese Cultural Center, Tea House, and Gardens of Saginaw | Saginaw | Michigan | Website, 3 acres |
Torrance Cultural Arts Center | Torrance | California | Website, includes the Pine Wind Garden (Sho Fu En) |
United States National Arboretum | Washington D.C. | D.C. | Includes the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum |
University of California Botanical Garden | Berkeley | California | The Asian Collection area includes a Japanese Pool with traditional garden items[30] |
University of Illinois Arboretum | Urbana | Illinois | Includes a Japanese arts teaching facility, Japan House, with tea garden (2002), dry or Zen garden (2003). The gardens are free, and open dawn to dusk, but the walled tea garden is closed during icy weather.[31] |
Wa-Shin-An Japanese Tea House and Meditation Garden | South Hadley | Massachusetts | Website, located on the top floor of Eliot House at Mount Holyoke College |
Wells Japanese Garden | Newberry | South Carolina | Features a temple, torri gate, moon bridge and tea house |
Wesleyan University Japanese Garden | Middletown | Connecticut | Website, Shôyôan Garden at the Freeman Center for East Asian Studies |
Yashiro Japanese Garden | Olympia | Washington | 0.74 acres |
Yuko-En on the Elkhorn | Georgetown | Kentucky | 6 acres, strolling garden |
Yushien at Amherst College | Amherst | Massachusetts | Website, a contemplative garden in the Japanese style located between Webster Hall and Kirby Theater, designed by Shinichiro Abe of Zen Associates |
Zilker Botanical Garden | Austin | Texas | Includes the 3-acre Isamu Taniguchi Japanese Garden[32] |