The Japanese Friendship Garden of Phoenix — Attraction in Phoenix

I booked a photo shoot for my small intimate wedding ceremony with 12 guests. This was really nice of them since they traditionally only allow up to 10 guests. Because I wasn't familiar with the venue, I called to speak with someone to guide me through which service to book prior to actually booking my wedding ceremony photoshoot. I spoke to a nice young lady by the name of Emily who advised me to book a one hour photoshoot for what I needed. I did as instructed and had no issues with booking. I scheduled my photoshoot for 2/5/25 at 4 pm. I received confirmation really quickly. A few days later I stopped by with my photographer to get a few test shots to test the lighting and to determine where I would take my photos and have the wedding ceremony. Everyone was polite and overjoyed that I was having my wedding ceremony there. About a day after that I needed to add 3 additional guests and Emily's supervisor happily sent over another invoice for me to pay an additional fee for the extra guests. Still not issues at all. Everything was still going smooth. The day before my wedding ceremony photoshoot I called to confirm everything was ok and to see if they would have a few chairs so that my parents could sit. They told me they did not have chairs, but did have benches. I said ok and I looked forward to seeing them tomorrow.

Things suddenly took a slight turn on the day of my wedding ceremony. I received an angry text from Ben Schrenf at 1:11 pm (less than 3 hours before my wedding ceremony photoshoot) that said, "Hi Christian. This is Ben Schrepf , I’m the Executive Director at the Japanese Friendship Garden of Phoenix. Currently, you are only booked for a photoshoot. We MUST hear from you PRIOR to your arrival today if you are hoping to have anything beyond pictures in the garden. We MUST process an additional payment if you are hoping to have a ceremony. Thank you!" It was written exactly as seen here. I let him know that I was having a wedding ceremony and photoshoot within the one hour session that I booked and that I also specified that when I booked the session. He responded "The box that you checked on our website makes very clear that your booking does not include a ceremony. If you are interested in having a ceremony, you must pay the additional amount. There are no exceptions. I am happy to refund your money in full if you are no longer interested in having a ceremony here because it is more expensive. Thank you."

I decided it was best to just give Mr. Schrenf a call. So, I called and told him again that I was having a photoshoot and wedding ceremony within the hours that I booked. He raised his voice almost near a scream and said again that I didn't not pay for a ceremony and if I wanted one I needed to pay more money right now or he will glady give me a full refund of what I paid if I couldn't afford the ceremony price. I informed him that I was not paying more money because I was careful with making sure I followed all the necessary steps to ensure I booked the right things by calling first. He continued to raise his voice and say you're not having a ceremony without paying more money. I then said ok sir, that's fine, I'll just have a photoshoot, that's OK with me. I guess he didn't like my politeness, so he says if it looks like you're having anything close to a ceremony I Will kick you out. At this point it seemed to me that he was trying to stir me up to get frustrated so that he could cancel my appointment altogether. I didn't give him that. Instead, I said sir, I spoke to Emily who advised me to book this particular booking. I also spoke to her supervisor who approved the additional people and that I also came visited for test shots with my photographer and informed the staff of my plans.

He then said he will let it slide this time. I showed up to my session at 4pm and he was no where to be found, no apologies, sorry for inconvenience or anything. Afterall, I had a good wedding ceremony, but will not return or recommend due to Mr. Schrenf. He could've ruined my special, but I...

Skip this review if you expect to visit a Japanese garden that is the size and impression of the Huntington library Japanese garden, the San Francisco one, or the Cal State Long Beach Japanese garden's caliber. You will be disappointed quickly for you will feel it's a waste of 10 bucks.

But if you are looking for an one-of-a-kind Japanese garden, check out this one. Here are the reasons why.

If you want to enjoy the summer in Japan but cannot afford the plane ticket, come here. It's a beautiful and well maintained Japanese garden with fantastic sounds of CICADAS. Yes my friend! Cicadas in Arizona. Bathe yourself in the magnificent sound! Just bring yourself or a book for a unique summer in Japan experience.

Because it costs $10 for a tiny garden, not that many people will visit. This is awesome! The garden literally belongs to you! Come really early, like when it opens so you can enjoy the breeze, the calmness, the beauty, and the sounds.

Imagined yourself hopping on rocks? Do it here!

If you have the hobby of sitting in front of a bathroom or just wonder how it feels like to sit in front of one, this is the place. Enjoy a beautiful view without the stench of a frequently visited with low maintenance bathroom.

If you love smelling good and clean bathroom, come here. Because of the bronze lights cover, the toilet reflected pink. Isn't it fancy? Since not that many people visit the garden, it smells nice and you can linger around to check out the beauty of the toilets and the interior design. Hahahahah! Unless you're that lucky person that arrived at that lucky time after someone did an important business! Maybe next time! Hahahaha!

Ever wonder how it feels like to look up into people's workplace and apartment buildings without being labeled as weird? Here is the place to do so.

Overall, a tiny, well-designed and maintained Japanese garden with CICADAS!

That's all! Spend that $10/inflated price through time and come super...

This is the third time I've been to the Japanese friendship Garden. We went for the Ukiah festival. When we got there I thought there was something wrong we paid our $20 a person and went in. But when we got inside it didn't look like there was anything going on. Very few people in there walking around and at that point we only saw a couple of people walking around in costume. And half of them were people that had just come to attend. We walked around and waited for a while to see what would happen once it got dark. The crowd did increase some once it started getting dark and there were more of the creatures walking around. However one of the things that we were looking forward to as advertised was a projected feature from ASU that would be going on. That was supposed to start at 6:00 so we thought we will wait around for a little bit and it hadn't started at 6:00 they were still setting up and didn't actually get done until almost 7:00. And the whole time we were watching them set up and configure everything it seems like they should have been there and done this the day before so they didn't have to take so long to do it. Then after having stood there watching them set up when they finally appeared to be done and got up and walked away, that really was nothing somebody asked the guy what was going on and he told him that what was projected on the walls that we had been seeing for the past hour that they were setting up would be all that was going on for now and that later on they would have another show. At this point there was no way we were going to stay around. I was extremely disappointed this time. The other festivals I had been there had a lot of people and a lot of vendors and things set up for you to do and see. This was just terrible and I was getting eaten alive...