Japanese Friendship Garden and Museum — Attraction in San Diego

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...

I came here a few weeks ago to see the cherry blossoms in bloom and although I came a little later in the season, the bloom was still plentiful and so lovely to see in person. There were quite a lot of people (which is to be expected, it was a Saturday during cherry blossom season) so the line to get in was long. I waited for about 45 minutes. NOW... I showed up at around 3:15 pm. Google maps shows that the garden closes at 5 pm but in reality, the garden stops selling tickets and closes the entryway at 4 pm. The employees didn't bother telling the people in line this until 3:45 pm. There were still about 50 people ahead of me at this point so I was really worried that I had waited in line for nothing. The good news is that I made it into the garden at 3:57 pm. Bad news for the many many many people that stood behind me in line.🥺☹️ Another thing that kind of disappointed and annoyed me was that the employees were being really forceful and kind of annoying about kicking us all out at 4:45-4:50. I was sitting at a bench when at employee came up to me and told me it was closing time and that I had to leave. I understood him so I got up and gathered my things but instead of giving me space, this person hovered over me and stared at me the entire time. I wish there was more information on the website about these occurances (when the gates close, what time they start escorting people out), but this is still a beautiful garden to visit and I will most likely be back next year earlier in the cherry...

Beautiful Japanese Gardens. Replicates the Japanese garden very well.

In a small canyon at Balboa Park, providing the illusion at the bottom that you are in another world. Balboa is still there along the ridge line, but the beauty surpasses the other areas in Balboa Park.

Went as the Cherry Blossoms were beginning to bloom. Phenomenal beauty!

A lot of paths were “temporarily” closed or under construction (I get the impression that it was more permanent than temporary), but you could still see the vast majority of the gardens.

The tranquil beauty is accented by streams and waterfalls, providing almost a micro climate in the middle of San Diego.

The entrance price point is fairly good per person, but a bit steep for families. Best to obtain the Balboa Explorer pass to make it more affordable if you’re in a large family. Otherwise, it’s a price to pay for some respite in a busy city.

The gardens do get a bit crowded however. Although very peaceful, it’s still a bit chaotic during high traffic times. Best to pick low traffic hours if maximum tranquility is your goal.

Although the paths are mostly packed gravel, they are clean and neat and we had no issues getting all the way down and back up with a single-wide stroller. Path only wide enough for one stroller or wheelchair at a time in most places. ADA compliant as far...