Japanese Tea Garden - San Francisco (Inside Golden Gate Park)

Today, the Japanese Tea Garden endures as one of the most popular attractions in San Francisco, featuring classic elements such as an arched drum bridge, pagodas, stone lanterns, stepping stone paths, native Japanese plants, serene koi ponds and a zen garden. Cherry blossom trees bloom throughout the garden in March and April.

Welcome to the Japanese Tea Garden, the oldest public Japanese garden in the United States located inside Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California.

The Japanese Tea Garden provides visitors from around the world with an opportunity to experience the natural beauty, tranquility and harmony of a Japanese-style garden in the heart of San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.

Originally created as a “Japanese Village” exhibit for the 1894 California Midwinter International Exposition, the site originally spanned about one acre and showcased a Japanese style garden. When the fair closed, Japanese landscape architect Makoto Hagiwara and superintendent John McLaren reached a gentleman’s agreement, allowing Mr. Hagiwara to create and maintain a permanent Japanese style garden as a gift for posterity. He became caretaker of the property, pouring all of his personal wealth, passion, and creative talents into creating a garden of utmost perfection. Mr. Hagiwara expanded the garden to its current size of approximately 5 acres where he and his family lived for many years until 1942 when they, along with approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans, were forced to evacuate their homes and move into internment camps. When the war was over, the Hagiwara family was not allowed to return to their home at the tea garden and in subsequent years, many Hagiwara family treasures were removed and new additions were made.

Today, the Japanese Tea Garden endures as one of the most popular attractions in San Francisco, featuring classic elements such as an arched drum bridge, pagodas, stone lanterns, stepping stone paths, native Japanese plants, serene koi ponds and a zen garden. Cherry blossom trees bloom throughout the garden in March and April.

The Tea House 
Enjoy a meditative cup of tea and sample popular Japanese refreshments in the newly refurbished Tea House which has a custom-designed irori or farmhouse style family table. The Tea House is nestled in the center of The Japanese Tea Garden and overlooks the picturesque landscape and South-facing pond.

Tea House Menu - Menu 
The Fortune Cookie StoryAccording to family members, Mr. Hagiwara introduced fortune cookies to the United States from Japan in the 1890’s or early 1900’s. Initially, the cookies were made on site by hand using a special iron mold or kata. When demand grew, Mr. Hagiwara hired San Francisco confectioner Benkyodo to produce the fortune cookies in large quantities. Original fortune cookies made in Japan were savory rather than sweet, and it is believed that Benkyodo developed a vanilla recipe for Mr. Hagiwara to make it more appealing to Western palates, the flavor that is now widely popular across the U.S. The tradition of serving fortune cookies to Tea Garden visitors continues today; one is tucked inside every bowl of Japanese rice crackers or arare sold at the Tea House.

The Gift Shop
Authentic Japanese items including tea and sake sets, glazed ceramic bowls and vases, kokeshi and daruma dolls, a variety of green teas,maneki neko figurines, and children’s collectibles are available for purchase in the Gift Shop located above the Tea House on the Terrace level.  Like the Tea House, the Gift Shop possesses distinctively Japanese style in its architecture and interior design.

Getting to the Japanese Tea Garden
The Japanese Tea Garden is located in Golden Gate Park, near the corner of Hagiwara Tea Garden Drive and Martin Luther King Drive.

The Japanese Tea Garden is served by several public transit routes including 44-O’Shaughnessy bus that stops immediately at the Tea Garden, as well as the N-Judah streetcar, 5 and 7 buses. Muni information here.

Parking for cars and bicycles is located in the Music Concourse Garage. Access to Music Concourse Garage parking is from Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. (enter the park at 9th Ave and Lincoln Way, garage entrance will be third right) or from Fulton Street at 10th Avenue. Street parking is also available on Golden Gate Park streets including MLK Drive, Nancy Pelosi Drive, and Stow Lake Drive.

To learn more about access to the Japanese Tea Garden, more information and access to other sites in the Music Concourse area can be found here,

Shuttle
The free Golden Gate Park Shuttle offers access to the Japanese Tea Garden and the eastern half of Golden Gate Park with stops along JFK Drive, and at the Music Concourse steps away from the Tea Garden’s entrance. The shuttle operates 7/days per week:
Monday-Friday, 12 noon to 6pm
Saturday, Sunday and Holidays, 9 am to 6pm

Learn more about the shuttle and access to Golden Gate Park here.