Living in Portland, the Japanese Garden is where we go when the city needs to quiet down. Stone, water, moss, and maple are arranged in the Japanese garden tradition, and the place asks you to slow down from the first step.
Find it, and the rest of the city we keep returning to, on sabi's Portland list.
Before you go: tickets & hours
Book a timed ticket online, up to 10 days ahead. Public hours generally run 10 am to 4:30 pm, with an hour after closing to finish your walk, and the garden closes on some weekdays, so check the calendar first. Tickets are nonrefundable and can be exchanged up to 24 hours ahead.
The gardens
Several garden styles share the hillside: a flat sand and stone garden, a strolling pond garden, and a tea garden among them. Plan on an hour and a half to two hours, and longer if you like to linger.
The tea house (Umami Café)
Umami Café is included with admission. A cup of tea with a view over the trees is the right pause midway through.
By season: spring, summer, autumn
Spring brings blossoms and fresh green moss. Summer is lush and shaded. Autumn turns the maples red and gold, and peak fall is the garden at its most vivid.
Staying quiet
Leave the phone in your pocket for a while. Walk slowly, sit on a bench, and listen to water moving over stone. The garden rewards the time you give it.
The details
- 611 SW Kingston Ave, Portland, OR 97205 (Washington Park)
- Public hours generally 10 am to 4:30 pm; closed some days, check the online calendar. Members 8 to 10 am
- Adult admission $22.50 (senior $19.50, student $18.50, youth $16.50, 5 and under free)
- japanesegarden.org, (503) 223-1321
sabi
The sabi journal
Stories behind the things we carry