Quick Guide to the Portland Japanese Garden
Visiting the Portland Japanese Garden is like stepping into another world. High on the slopes of Portland’s west hills, the only reminder of the city is a single viewpoint overlooking downtown. Celebrated as “the most beautiful and authentic Japanese garden in the world outside of Japan” by a former Japanese ambassador, this unique space blends traditional Japanese garden aesthetics with the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Doug firs and big-leaf maples surround stone pagodas and peaceful koi ponds. Cherry blossoms signal the arrival of spring. Japanese maples turn electric shades of orange and red in the fall. It’s a place to slow down, drink in the beauty, and enjoy. Here is everything you need to know about visiting Portland’s Japanese Garden.
Japanese maples are a highlight of the garden in the fall
Know before you go
The Portland Japanese Garden is open Wednesday through Monday, 10 AM to 4:30 PM. The last entry is at 4:30 PM. You can stay until 5:30 PM.
Dogs are not allowed in the garden other than service dogs.
Personal photography is allowed, but not portrait photography. If you bring a tripod, there’s a $10 fee.
Please stay on the paths to protect the plants.
Outside food and drinks are not allowed. It’s okay to bring water.
Public tours are free with admission. They last about an hour. Make a reservation ahead of time. Tours sometimes sell out, especially on the weekend.
The Portland Japanese Garden has restrooms in two places: the Japanese Arts Learning Center and the building next to the wisteria arbor.
Wisteria Arbor
Cost
You can buy admission tickets when you arrive at the Portland Japanese Garden or online ahead of time. During busy times, it’s faster to enter the garden if you bought tickets online.
These are the admission prices as of 2024:
Adult: $21.95
Senior (65+): $18.95
Student (with ID): $17.95
Youth (6-17): $15.95
Child (5 and under): Free
Members: Free
You can theoretically get a free pass with a Multnomah County library card, although I’ve never seen them available.
Portland Japanese Garden entrance and ticket windows
Parking and transit
The Portland Japanese Garden shares a parking lot with the International Rose Test Garden. It’s metered at about $2 per hour or $8 per day. Download the Parking Kitty app to pay for parking. You can add time from your phone if needed. Parking can be hard to find during popular times, especially in the summer when the roses are blooming (May - September).
Trimet #63 bus stops at the Portland Japanese Garden. If you’re coming from downtown, you won’t need to transfer.
A free shuttle connects the attractions in Washington Park, including the Portland Japanese Garden. To use the shuttle, take the MAX red or blue line to the Oregon Zoo. The shuttle stops at the MAX station.
Moon Bridge in the Strolling Pond Garden
Accessibility and Entry Garden
Accessibility varies in different parts of the Portland Japanese Garden. Once you buy tickets at the admission window, you can walk up the hill or take the Japanese Garden shuttle, which is free with admission. If you walk, you’ll pass through the Entry Garden, where native Pacific Northwest plants grow alongside seasonal waterways. The Entry Garden has some stairs and steep grades on the way to the rest of the garden spaces. I suggest taking the shuttle if you use a mobility device or have a stroller with you.
The Antique Gate in the Entry Garden is around 200 years old and comes from Sapporo, Japan
After walking through the Entry Garden or taking the shuttle, you’ll be at the Cultural Village. The paths in the village are paved, flat, and without barriers like steps. Once you leave the village through the Nezu Gate, the terrain becomes more variable. A ramp on the other side of the gate has a shallow grade. The circular trail around the Flat Garden and Pavilion Gallery is paved, flat, and even. The gallery is accessible to wheelchairs.
Stairs in the Natural Garden
The Natural Garden has the most irregular terrain. Some of the stairs are steep and without handrails. There are many benches throughout the garden. Some are covered for rainy days. The Portland Japanese Garden offers reduced admission if you can’t see all the areas due to accessibility.
The Cultural Village
Fukuta Concierge Desk in the Cultural Village
The Cultural Village has the feeling of a town square. Surrounding a wide courtyard are the Bonsai Terrace, Umami Cafe, Japanese Arts Learning Center, gift shop, concierge desk, and shuttle drop-off. Mini-gardens decorate the courtyard in the Cultural Village. They are Tsubo-Niwa, a type of garden style that brings natural accents into manmade spaces.
If you’re taking a tour, the meeting place is in front of the Bonsai Terrace.
Bonsai Terrace
The highlight of the Cultural Village (to me, anyway) is the Bonsai Terrace. The size of an average houseplant, some of the bonsai trees in Portland Japanese Garden are around the same age as the tallest Doug firs in Forest Park. Gnarled bark, thick trunks, and twisting limbs reveal their paradox. They are miniature giants. The trees on the terrace range in age from around 50 to 250 years old. They’ve had not just one human lifetime of care but generations. The bonsais on display rotate. The ones I saw included familiar local species like mountain hemlock, western mountain ash, and Engelmann spruce, all shrunk down to Lilliputian proportions.
Japanese Arts Learning Center
The Japanese Arts Learning Center is one of the larger buildings in the Cultural Village. The ground floor has a gallery with art exhibits, a gift shop, and restrooms. The gift shop offers a mix of the usual coffee mugs and calendars as well as some surprises like hand-forged Japanese kitchen knives and a book of haikus written by monks nearing death. Upstairs are mostly offices for staff, but you can see a few more bonsai trees on the patio. If you’re waiting for a rain shower to pass, stop and check out the video on the garden’s history. The Learning Center also hosts special events like lectures and cultural demonstrations.
Umami Cafe
I’m struggling not to sound like promotional material because I love Umami Cafe. I promise that no one asked me for a glowing review. It’s just really good. The cafe sits perched above the Entry Garden at the level of the canopy. Floor-to-ceiling windows look out onto conifers and big-leaf maples, which turn bright yellow in the fall. Once you’re seated, you get a warm hand towel. The menu has rich and nutty green teas that bear no resemblance to grocery store tea bags. When it arrives, the temperature is perfect. The tea comes paired with a cute lil’ snack that complements its flavor.
A couple of tips. The cafe is popular, and wait times can be long. It’s a good idea to put your name down for a reservation and then tour the garden while you wait. The cafe’s last seating is at 4 PM, but the reservation list can close before then if it’s full. If you’re more organized than me, you can also make a reservation online ahead of time.
The gardens
Stone guardian in front of the Nezu Gate
The Nezu Gate is the boundary between the Japanese Garden’s Cultural Village and its five original garden spaces. Interconnecting paths make it easy to move from one to another, often without noticing the transition. Wandering is encouraged. There’s no right or wrong way to explore.
Tea Garden
The Tea Garden
A walk through the Tea Garden feels like visiting a rural mountain town. Lanterns hang next to stepping stone paths. Moss carpets the ground, rocks, and roofing shingles. Sheltered benches provide peaceful corners to watch the rain. The Tea Garden’s centerpiece is the Kashintei Tea House, a building shipped from Japan in pieces and resembled in Portland. On special occasions, the garden hosts tea ceremony demonstrations inside.
Strolling Pond Garden
The Zigzag Bridge
The Strolling Pond Garden has some of the Portland Japanese Garden’s most recognizable features. The Moon Bridge crosses over a small stream connecting two ponds. Next to the stream, the Zigzag Bridge makes a meandering course. Giant, colorful koi fish swim alongside you as you walk over the bridge. In summer, irises bloom on the banks of the stream. In fall, Japanese maples turn a deep burnt orange. At the end of the bridge, Heavenly Falls tumbles delicately over mossy rocks into the pond below.
Heavenly Falls
Natural Garden
The Natural Garden is an area of dense woods on the steepest hillside in the Portland Japanese Garden. Of all the garden spaces, the Natural Garden most resembles the Pacific Northwest. Next to the entry gate, a vine maple over a trickling stream turns a fiery shade of orange in the fall. Camellia blossoms appear in early spring. The rhododendrons later on are even showier. A carpet of moss stays bright green throughout the year. Benches and covered sitting areas along the paths encourage you to pause and enjoy the woods. Note that the stairs are steep and sometimes irregular. Most do not have handrails.
Sand and Stone Garden
The Sand and Stone Garden is a secluded enclave along the winding paths of the Natural Garden. The walls around it make stepping inside feel like discovering a secret. This dry garden embraces the beauty of empty space. Amid the dense vegetation, it’s a big breath of air. Mossy stones decorate a raked gravel bed, creating shadows that change with the light. The materials for the Sand and Stone Garden come from areas near Portland. The largest stone, called the Buddha Stone, is from Starvation Creek Park.
Flat Garden and Pavilion Gallery
The Flat Garden
The Pavilion Gallery displays the Portland Japanese Garden’s rotating art exhibits. Doors on the gallery’s east side open onto a veranda with views of downtown Portland. On a clear day, you can see Mt Hood. Follow the path to the right to find a second viewpoint overlooking the Sand and Stone Garden from above.
The Pavilion Gallery looks onto downtown Portland
Behind the Pavilion Gallery is the Flat Garden, where carefully chosen shrubs and trees in a raked gravel bed highlight the beauty of the changing seasons. A stunning weeping cherry blooms in spring, followed closely by azaleas. In fall, the leaves on the Japanese maples are as orange as paprika. One of these maples is over 100 years old. The best views of the Flat Garden are from the Pavilion Gallery’s western veranda.
The Flat Garden’s weeping cherry blooms in spring
The Tree
The Tree
Chances are you’ll recognize the Portland Japanese Garden’s most famous tree when you see it. The Tree is a favorite subject in nature calendars, art fair photography, and computer desktop backgrounds. Since its 2012 appearance in National Geographic, the Japanese maple has drawn a crowd every fall when its leaves change. From the side, they are the color of wild-caught salmon. From underneath, fire. The best time of year to see The Tree is usually from around late October to early November. The garden’s website has a fall color tracker with updates if you want to get precise with timing.
If you visit The Tree in the fall, there will almost certainly be people waiting for pictures. A section of theater tape helps manage the line. The selfie people tend to be in and out pretty fast. The tripod people with their proof-of-tripod-fee tags stand to the side, waiting for the perfect photo opportunity. Have your moment with The Tree, get a few pictures, and then move aside to let others have a turn. Make sure to stay on the path to not disturb the moss under The Tree.
Just after the rain stopped on a weekday, this is about the best-case scenario for the line to see The Tree during peak season
To find The Tree, start at the Cultural Village and head through the Nezu Gate. After the gate, take an immediate right. The Tree is just ahead, on the way to the Tea Garden.
The Tree in the Strolling Pond Garden
Getting there
Address: 611 SW Kingston Ave, Portland, OR 97205
The Portland Japanese Garden is in Washington Park, just up the hill from the International Rose Test Garden. It’s about a 10-minute drive or 15-minute bus ride from Pioneer Square downtown.
Explore nearby
Head down the hill to visit the International Rose Test Garden.
