Japanese Tea Garden, Japanese garden in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, United States.
The Japanese Tea Garden is a three-acre landscape in Golden Gate Park with winding paths, ponds, and a teahouse. Its structures include a multi-tiered wooden pagoda on a stone base, with red pillars, white infill panels, and dark shingled roofs with upturned corners, set among pruned shrubs and trees.
The garden began as part of the 1894 California Midwinter International Exposition. Makoto Hagiwara transformed it from a temporary exhibition into a permanent installation that has survived to this day.
The Tea House has stood in the garden since the 1894 Midwinter Fair and has been rebuilt several times. It serves six teas, including jasmine, sencha, hōjicha, genmaicha, iced green and matcha, along with snacks such as edamame, kuzumochi and green tea cheesecake. The garden's name honours Makoto Hagiwara, its caretaker from 1895 to 1925.
The garden sits inside Golden Gate Park, and the road along its edge was named Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive in 1986. It is one of three Gardens of Golden Gate Park sites, with the San Francisco Botanical Garden and the Conservatory of Flowers. Paths pass ponds, a drum bridge and a dry landscape garden, so plan to wander rather than follow one route.
The Dry Landscape Garden designed by Nagao Sakurai in 1953 uses only stones and gravel to suggest natural elements like mountains and water. This approach shows how restraint in materials can create powerful visual effects.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,048 contributors worldwide.
