Emilly Prado

Emilly Prado is a writer, award-winning journalist and consultant living in Portland. Read More

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A couple enjoys the serenity of Flat Garden.

Credit: Nina Johnson

Portland Japanese Garden

This Portland landmark is filled with lush gardens, winding walkways and panoramic views.

Updated May 1, 2025 6 min read Washington Park

Emilly Prado

Emilly Prado is a writer, award-winning journalist and consultant living in Portland. Read More

Tucked among the tall trees and wooded trails of Washington Park lies the Portland Japanese Garden, a sanctuary, landmark and tribute to the cultural ties between Oregon and Japan. Eight distinct meticulously crafted garden styles and a robust programming schedule honor and showcase Japan’s architectural, cultural and artistic traditions.

Portland Japanese Garden History

Five years after Sapporo, Japan, and Portland, Oregon, became sister cities and decades after World War II propelled anti-Japanese sentiment in the U.S., the Portland Japanese Garden was born in 1963 as a healing site for cross-cultural exchange and community respite. Since opening to the public in 1967, the nonprofit garden has grown into an internationally renowned institution, welcoming nearly half a million visitors annually.

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Credit: Jonathan Ley

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While nature remains a focal point of the Portland Japanese Garden, the expansive site has grown to include a gallery, gift shop, café and learning center. Across the United States, nearly 300 Japanese gardens are open to the public. However, the Portland Japanese Garden, first designed by Professor Takuma Tono of Tokyo Agricultural University, is unique in encompassing numerous garden architectural styles.

Planning Your Visit

Accessibility

The Portland Japanese Garden is built on steep, hilly terrain. While the garden welcomes visitors of all abilities, including those assisted by service animals, only certain areas are ADA accessible: the Flat Garden (including an overlook to view the Sand and Stone Garden), the Pavilion Gallery and the Cultural Village which includes the Umami Café, Jordan Schnitzer Japanese Arts Learning Center, Tanabe Gallery and Garden Gift Shop.

A free ADA-accessible shuttle bus from the Welcome Center ticket booth to the Cultural Village circumvents some of the steeper parts of the garden. Free docent-led tours offering American Sign Language interpretation are available for deaf and hard of hearing individuals and their companions with advanced registration, included with the cost of admission. Wheelchairs are unavailable to rent, so visitors should bring their own mobility devices.

Additional accessibility information can be found online, including a map noting which paths are paved, unpaved and uneven.

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Portland Japanese Garden Features

Visitors to the Portland Japanese Garden are ushered into the gardens by giant Alaskan cedar and Japanese red and black pine. Throughout the gardens, tree varieties include beech, cherry, flowering dogwood, Japanese and vine maple, and countless other Pacific Northwest and Japanese plants and shrubs, such as boxwood, rhododendron, azalea, camellia, wisteria, tree peony, fern, yew and more.

Entry Garden

Located on a steep hillside with stunning views of downtown Portland, the city’s many bridges and Mount Hood, the Portland Japanese Garden campus is accessed via a brief hike up the winding pathway from the Welcome Center to the Cultural Village. Surrounding the path, the Entry Garden combines Japanese architectural style with Pacific Northwest native plants like trillium, bleeding hearts, huckleberries and cascading ponds.

Historic Gardens

Unlike botanical gardens, which include labels noting the names of the plants, the Portland Japanese Garden intentionally limits signage to allow guests to focus on the natural landscape. Guests are encouraged to stay silent while strolling through the historic gardens to collectively uphold the intended sense of peace and respite. The Nezu Gate has remained a mainstay since the garden’s opening in 1967 and welcomes guests as they arrive and depart the Historic Gardens, including eight distinct styles of gardens.

Tea Garden

The lush, mossy Tea Garden was designed with a stone walking path, said to help visitors shed their concerns about the outside world. The Kashintei Tea House is a prominent structure, originally constructed in Japan, with a more rural style than other tea houses on the garden grounds.

Strolling Pond Garden

A short walk over the Moon Bridge brings visitors into the Strolling Pond Garden, which typically displays wealth in Japan but here reflects the richness of the landscape. The Lower Pond is renowned for its zig-zag bridge, composed of eight planks, and as the home of enormous, vibrant koi fish. Japanese iris help frame the garden waterfall, Heavenly Falls.

Natural Garden

Nearby, the Natural Garden is full of leafy trees and plants, most notably the Pacific Northwest native vine maple, deliberately placed to show off its changes through the seasons.

Sand and Stone Garden

The Sand and Stone Garden is a dry landscape garden that embraces the beauty of blank space and features aesthetically raked sand, large stones and robust bordering walls. Together, these elements culminate in a peaceful place to rest and reflect.

Flat Garden and Pavilion Gallery

The Flat Garden, which can be best enjoyed from the Pavilion Gallery deck, is reminiscent of a landscape portrait. It combines various elements into a serene, four-season tableau with azalea shrubs and lace-leaf maple trees. Inside the shoji-paneled Pavilion Gallery, you’ll find rotating exhibitions from renowned Japanese artists.

Around The Cultural Village

Umami Café

Float amid the forest in this glass-walled tea house staffed by attentive, knowledgeable servers. This intimate café allows guests to sip Japanese teas expertly paired with light refreshments such as chewy pillows of red bean-filled mochi and honeycomb castella cake. Savory snackers will relish warming bowls of miso soup and sinus-awakening wasabi-doused bowls of ochazuke, delicate green tea over wild rice.

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Credit: Jonathan Ley

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Jordan Schnitzer Japanese Arts Learning Center

This learning and cultural exchange hub is a bustling site for special events. It houses a classroom, library, performance space and the Tanabe Gallery, where seasonal exhibitions and events are held year-round. Garden visitors are also encouraged to browse the 3,000+ volume collection of Japanese garden and Japanese arts and culture publications in the Vollum Library. Many of the garden’s public events, such as lectures about Japanese history, bonsai presentations and cultural performances, are hosted here.

Garden Gift Shop

Take home a souvenir to commemorate your visit to the Portland Japanese Garden. In addition to branded swag, the gift shop showcases a small but comprehensive selection of unique items — some of which are imported from Japan and cannot be found anywhere else in the United States. Browse the collection, including aziome indigo-dyed textiles and scarves, hand-thrown sake vessels, delicate incense and high-quality Japanese kitchen knives. The gift shop also provides gift wrapping and shipping services with additional charges.

Events at the Portland Japanese Garden

The Portland Japanese Garden hosts regular programming, including tours, rotating exhibitions, traditional tea ceremonies, cultural festivals, artistic performances, interactive workshops, curator conversations and more. Check the robust online calendar for upcoming events.

Free hour-long tours are offered, rain or shine, Wednesdays–Mondays. Tours are included with the cost of admission, but advanced online registration is required. Knowledgeable volunteers lead the tours, which meet at the “Tour Start” sign in front of the Ellie M. Hill Bonsai Terrace in the Cultural Village.

Explore These Gardens

Marvel at gorgeous blooms and greenery at these Portland parks.

Go To Parks & Gardens

The Grotto

This serene woodland sanctuary in Northeast Portland features 62 acres (25 hectares) of lush botanical gardens. No matter what time of year you visit, the Grotto offers calm, peace and introspection, transcending boundaries.

Lan Su Chinese Garden

This year-round wonder houses an authentic Ming Dynasty-style garden built by Suzhou artisans, offering a peaceful escape in Portland’s historic Chinatown.

Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden

Round out your floral explorations of the Rose City with a visit to Southeast Portland’s lush Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden. The park boasts more than 2,500 rhododendrons, azaleas, with blooms from late February – June.