San Francisco has a quiet corner where the city slows down on purpose. Inside Golden Gate Park, the Japanese Tea Garden is, in the words of the Gardens of Golden Gate Park, the oldest operating public Japanese garden in North America, and every path inside it is designed to lower your heart rate: graceful Japanese maples, twisting pines, clipped azaleas and cherry trees arranged around serene koi ponds, stepping-stone paths and stone lanterns.
Every landmark tells a story. The lovingly restored pagoda was originally built for the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition as a Buddhist treasure tower. The great Buddha, Amazarashi-No-Hotoke, was cast in Japan in 1790. The dry landscape garden, a zen garden designed by Nagao Sakurai in 1953, turns raked gravel and rock into hills, mountains and running water. And the Tea House sits on the site of the original teahouse built for the Mid-Winter Exposition of 1894, where visitors can enjoy a meditative cup of tea at a farmhouse-style irori table overlooking the south-facing pond.
Come in spring for cherry blossoms in March and April and wisteria in April and May, or join a 60-minute walking tour led by San Francisco City Guides to meet the arched drum bridge and the garden’s hidden corners. Practical tip: entry is timed, so reserve your slot in advance on the official site. On the day we checked, the garden was open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with last entry at 5:30 p.m., and the Long Bridge was under renovation. Whenever you go, leave an unhurried hour for it. This is San Francisco at its most peaceful.
Photo: King of Hearts / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
