A garden is often seen as a symbol of life, growth, and abundance. In Japanese culture, gardens are also seen as a place of refuge and relaxation. Japanese friendship garden is an absolutely adorable natural park in Balboa park. I definitely recommend it for locals and tourists alike, especially in spring and fall!

My friend and I visited the garden on a Friday afternoon when cherry blossoms were in full bloom. We were completely blown away. Every step around the garden is a unique and photo-worthy view. We actually took more than 100 pictures. LOL. It would cost us a leg and arm in the old days ( before the digital camera and smartphone ).

For many Japanese, the blooming of the cherry blossom trees symbolize human life, transience, and nobleness. The Japanese Friendship garden has the annual Cherry Blossom festival but I would recommend avoiding the festival weekend because of the crowd. We chose to visit the Friday after the festival and it was a good decision. It was not very crowded although we still had to wait in line for about 20 minutes to get into the garden and had to park our cars half a mile away.

The tranquil garden is accented by streams and waterfalls with beautifully landscaped terrain. They have a zen garden with a large buddha statue and a well-kept koi pond. There's even a little calligraphy house with all kinds of scripture You can leisurely stroll around for a few hours.

The little tea house in the front has authentic Asian teas and snacks.

Parking is a bit difficult if you come here during weekends. Try to arrive before 10.

The garden is free to locals every third Tuesday otherwise it's $12 for adults, $10 for students, and children under 3 are free.