Visitors to San Francisco who want an authentic slice of Japan should head to the oldest public Japanese garden in the United States. Located in Golden Gate Park, the Japanese Tea Garden is a five acre attraction of beautiful Japanese cherry trees, dwarf trees, hedges, and other plants and stones with bridges, pond, pagoda, Zen Garden, Buddha, and other objects from Japan. There is also a gift shop as well as a tea house overlooking the gardens which serves snacks.
History of Japanese Tea Garden
The Japanese Tea Garden originated as a Japanese Village exhibit for the California Midwinter International Exposition of 1894. It was designed by Makoto Hagiwara, a wealthy Japanese landscape designer who planned, supervised, and partly financed the gardens (and also invented the fortune cookie). After the fair, some of the exhibit became the Japanese Tea Garden.
The garden has changed throughout the years. Hagiwara and his family oversaw it until after World War II, when anti-Japanese sentiment caused it to be renamed “Oriental Tea Garden.” The name was changed back in 1952 and, the next year, the Japanese Counsel General presented it with a 9,000 pound symbol of friendship from the children of Japan – the Lantern of Peace.
Highlights of the Japanese Tea Garden
Left of the entrance, there is a steep Drum Bridge that children and spry adults love to climb. Close by is the Peace Lantern, a Buddhist pagoda, a bronze Buddha (cast in Japan in 1790 and presented by S& G Gump Company), and a Classical Zen Garden (designed by Nagao Sakurai to symbolize a miniature mountain scene). The garden has three gates built entirely without nails by Japanese craftsmen of Japanese Hinoki Cypress.
The small gift shop includes authentic Japanese items for sale such as tea cups, saki sets, and items for children both modern (such as anime character key chains) and traditional (such as origami). Visitors can enjoy tea and light snacks (almond or sesame cookies, rice crackers, lemonade, and more) while sitting in the Tea House which overlooks the gardens and pond. Kids will be amused by the Japanese soda that is opened by popping a marble inside the bottle.
Other Attractions in Golden Gate Park
Next door is the recently renovated de Young Museum. (The Asian Art Museum, formerly located next to the de Young, has moved to the Civic Center). Across the park’s Music Concourse is the (also recently renovated) California Academy of Sciences which includes the Steinhart Aquarium and the Morrison Planetarium.
Admissions and Tours of the Japanese Tea Garden
The Japanese Tea Garden is open daily throughout the year from 9:00 am until 6:00 pm (from March 1st until October 31st) and until 4:45 pm the rest of the year. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday there is free admission if entered by 10:00 am.
City Guides offers free tours of the Garden on Monday and Friday at 9:30 a.m. The San Francisco Parks Trust offers tours on Wed and Sun at 1:00 pm and Mon at 9:30 am.
Families and others who want to enjoy a relaxing stroll and cup of tea amidst a beautiful, contemplative landscape,will enjoy Golden Gate Park's Japanese Tea Garden.
Sources:
Brochure on Japanese Tea Garden by the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department
San Francisco Parks Trust website
Virginia Balogh-Rosenthal - Virginia loves walking around the world’s great cities and riding their subways. Since becoming parents thirteen years ago, Virginia ...
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