Where To Find Seattle’s Best Japanese Gardens

In Japan, gardens are way more than just an assortment of flora. They are considered to be an art form. The transition is frequently subtle and distinctive, much like other beautiful Japanese art forms. If tourists are merely speeding through, they could completely miss their splendor. A Japanese garden may have several traits in addition to flowers, trees, and plants, including bridges, fences, gates, lanterns, sculptures, teahouses and other structures, ponds and streams, water basins, and fish. In this marvelous land, each component has a unique and symbolic meaning that reflects the beauty of nature. The bewitching Pacific Northwest has been heavily influenced by Japanese garden design and plant selection, and fortunately, Seattle has the greatest specimens of Japanese gardens in foreign countries because of the area’s cultural links to Japan. Here are the best Japanese gardens in Seattle that tourists shall not miss visiting and enjoying their beauty.

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Visit The Famous Seattle Japanese Garden

Spring, when the wonderful cherry trees are in blossom, and fall, when the vivid orange and crimson colors of the Japanese maples lend a burnished shine to the landscape, are the two seasons when this garden is at its most beautiful. The Seattle Japanese Garden, which was planned and built under the direction of Japanese garden designer Juki Iida, fits like a gem into the University of Washington Arboretum. It is among the oldest Japanese gardens in the Pacific Northwest and was established in 1960 and has had more than 60 years to develop. This fabulous strolling garden contains multiple painstakingly made miniature scenery. As visitors follow the curving road around the center lake from one viewpoint to the next, it is intended to be observed one scene at a time, like a scroll of painted landscapes that unrolls and unveils new panoramas.

• Entrance fee: $8 per adult, $4 per child, student, and senior
• Opening Schedule: Tuesday through Sunday, with seasonal changes in hours.
• Location: 1075 Lake Washington Boulevard E, Seattle, WA 98112, United States

Related: 10 Of The Most Scenic Things You Can Do In Seattle

Tour The Amazing Bloedel Reserve

An annual ranking from the Sukiya Living Journal names the Bloedel Reserve’s Japanese Garden as one of the top ones in North America. The Sand and Stone Garden, in front of the astonishing Japanese Guest House, is one of Bloedel’s Japanese Garden’s many distinguishing characteristics. Previously, a family and guest swimming pool stood where the stone garden is now. The Bloedels commissioned renowned landscape architect Richard Haag to replace the pool in the 1970s with a sculpture called The Garden of Planes, a finely graveled and sculpted mound of angles and flat surfaces after famous poet Theodore Roethke unintentionally drowned in it. To replace the Garden of Planes sculpture, Dr. Koichi Kawana, a talented landscape architect, created and put in place the Sand and Stone Garden in 1987. It would be more in line with the remainder of the Japanese Garden’s design, according to the director and the Bloedel Board.

• Entrance fee: $20 per adult, $5 per child (5-12), $10 per student, and $15 per senior or military
• Opening Schedule: Tuesday through Sunday, from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
• Location: 7571 NE Dolphin Dr, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110, United States

Marvel At The Astonishing Kubota Garden

The magnificent Kubota Garden is 20 acres (0.08 Km2) of dazzling scenery that associates authentic Japanese garden concepts with local Northwest species. It is nestled in South Seattle. The site, which is a historical monument, was purchased by the city in 1986 from the estate of renowned landscape architect Fujitaro Kubota. When he started fusing Japanese design methods with North American elements in his demonstration garden in 1927, he was a pioneer in the horticulture field. Tourists will enjoy a breathtaking landscape of hills and valleys, interspersed with waterfalls, streams, bridges, ponds, and rock outcroppings that are home to a wide variety of plants.

• Entrance fee: Free of charge
• Opening Schedule: Daily, from 7:30 AM to 8:00 PM.
• Location: 9817 55th Avenue S, Seattle, WA 98118, United States

Discover Yao Garden At Bellevue Botanical Garden

Visitors enter this tranquil garden from a traditional Japanese gate. The garden, which was created to celebrate the sister city relationship between Bellevue and Yao, Japan, is a fusion of magnificent influences from the Pacific Rim: delicate maples sit next to basalt from the Columbia River; ground covers encircle Japanese lanterns, and vibrant azaleas highlight rhododendrons and viburnums. Visitors of the Bellevue Botanical Garden’s Yao Japanese Garden appreciate this tranquil and lovely setting. It appears to be getting better every time they visit it. Moreover, it is the closest thing to a top-notch public botanical garden that the Seattle region has to offer. Although many Japanese gardens look over-groomed and regimented, the Yao Japanese Garden has a calm & private air. Near the main entrance, the garden is accessible via a broad path along the edge of the woods.

• Entrance fee: Free of charge
• Opening Schedule: Daily, from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
• Location: 12001 Main Street, Bellevue, WA 98005, United States