Oregon - Portland Japanese Garden

Oregon is a beautiful place, full of lush plant life, but they also have a Japanese Garden in Portland. According to their website, the idea for the garden came after WWII, when states across the U.S. were founding their own Japanese Gardens in order to heal between the cultures. There had previously been a zoo in this area, but it had been moved back to its original location, though still in Washington Park, in 1959. With that area cleared again, it was decided that this would be the location of the garden.

The garden entryway - Antique Gate

In 1961, they brought on Professor Takuma Tono to design the garden. He decided to use five different styles of gardens to represent different times in history. These consist of Strolling Pond Garden, Tea Garden, Natural Garden, Sand and Stone Garden, and Flat Garden. The garden opened in 1967, though it wasn't yet complete, and additional areas and buildings were built throughout the years. There's now a tea room, a gift shop, and several other buildings. There's also a lovely zen garden, where the rocks are carefully sculpted, and an area where Mt. Hood can be viewed.

Purple flowers around the koi pond

The garden is on a hillside, so very little of it involves a flat walk. The paths meander up, down, and around. In one area, there's a koi pond edged by tall, purple flowers. This was one of the busiest areas of the gardens while we were there, with it being the obvious favorite of children.

Mixed in with the distinctive gardens, native plants can also be seen on the hillside. Ferns are one of my personal favorites, partially because we just don't get them in Colorado. But they also look like something out of an ancient era, especially when there are a bunch of them or they're especially big.

A fern past the entryway

The facility starts in a crowded parking lot. The chances of getting a spot are pretty limited unless you get there early, but there's also parking along the street. In addition, they have an area for bus pickup, so one can park and take the bus. Entry is paid here, and then the climb up the hill begins.

There's a mix of steps and steep walkways, which lead through the "village," where the shops and cafe are. Immediately after comes Nezu Gate, which takes you into the actual gardens. The gate is guarded by two dragons, and there's a line of bamboo plants to one side.

Nezu Gate

You can go in multiple directions after you pass through the gate, but we opted to go to our right, which led us past the tea house to Moon Bridge and the Peace Lantern.

Moon Bridge

Peace Lantern *I Think*

Our next stop was Strolling Pond Garden, where we met the koi on Zig Zag Bridge and gazed at the lovely Heavenly Falls.

Koi and part of Zig Zag Bridge

Heavenly Falls was one of my favorite sights. The waterfall itself is small, but it's adjacent to a gorgeous pink blooming plant and a small stone lantern. The sound of the falls is relaxing, and the below view is past where the bulk of the people are, even though the fish can also go into the part of the pond after going under part of the bridge. Most of them were over in one area.

Heavenly Falls and a lantern

There's a ton of green, but there are bursts of pinks, purples, and whites throughout.

To get to the Sand and Stone Garden, there are a bunch of steps. I'm not sure this part is accessible to those with mobility issues, especially if they're in a wheelchair or using a walker. However, if I remember right, everywhere else is accessible. If mobility is an issue, there's a shuttle from the parking lot/entryway that goes up past that first set of steps and delivers folks to the shopping and cafe area. Luckily, they did have several covered sitting areas in the garden, and I didn't have any issues getting to sit down to rest my knee.

You can walk right up to the Sand and Stone Garden, but there's also an overlook where one can look down at it, which allows folks with mobility issues to still get to see it.


View of Sand and Stone Garden from overlook

There were some really cool trees throughout that also provided pops of color. We were there in June, but I'm betting it would be absolutely amazing to visit in the fall.



Flat Garden was another sand-type garden, which was decorated with trees and small mounds of grass. 

Flat Garden

I've skipped one of the gardens: Tea Garden. While we walked through there, I didn't take any pictures that I'm aware of. I also haven't mentioned Natural Garden, which was what we walked through to get to the Sand and Stone Garden. Natural Garden had at least one stone lantern and a variety of plants.

A sight in Natural Garden

Lantern in Natural Garden area


As we wrapped back around to the shopping area, we found the Sapporo Pagoda Lantern.

Sapporo Pagoda Lantern

One of the buildings in the shopping area housed a small, man-made waterfall feature and several different types of bonzai trees. We were excited to see one made of Rocky Mountain Juniper, a nod to our home in Colorado.

Rocky Mountain Juniper

The building housing this area, a viewing area for speakers, and the gift shop, appeared to have a living roof.

Living roof

The Portland Japanese Garden has been honored as the most authentic garden outside of Japan and has been visited by many representatives from Japan. Its mission to create a place of peace and connection has certainly been fulfilled. Even when it's busy, everything is spaced out well enough that I rarely felt crowded. When I did, I'd just find a place to sit and relax and wait for everyone to go by. Despite being on a busy hill over a bustling city, the air smelled clean within the surrounding trees, and it was a nice walk, with plenty for the eye (and camera) to feast on. There was life all around, including squirrels and birds. 

White blossoms on a tree

There were multiple lovely water features throughout, giving that peaceful, chuckling ambience of running water.

Water feature in Natural Garden Area *I think*


And there was no shortage of ferns decorating the entirety of the gardens, so I could get my fill of those before heading back to Colorado.


I highly recommend a visit to the Portland Japanese Garden for a day of peace and calm. Bear in mind that it might be easier to be in a wheelchair if you have that option. If you've got a knee in need of a total knee replacement, it's a doable walk, but a lot of work for it. Don't be afraid to sit down when you come to a bench, where you can people watch in addition to taking in the scenery.

Have you ever visited the gardens? Is there a similar garden you'd recommend? 


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