The Japanese Friendship Garden, San-Kei-En, represents a bond of friendship between the peoples of San Diego and Yokohama. Situated in Balboa Park in San Diego, the garden was named after the San-Kei-En Garden in Yokohama. Above is a picture of the Zen Garden where seven large rocks imported from Japan serve as meditation points in the raked gravel.
The origins of the Friendship Garden go pack to the 1915 Panama-California Exposition when a Japanese Tea Pavilion was built on the site of the Friendship Garden today. After the exposition a Japanese family lived at the site and maintained the building and grounds until World War II when the site was dismantled. The site reopened in 1990 as part of a sister city project between the citizens of San Diego and Yokohama.










The Friendship Garden is undergoing expansion. The garden is open everyday except Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year. Adult admission is $4.
Learn more about the Friendship Garden at its website
Travel safe. Have fun.
Small world – I was just at the original Sankei-en in Yokohama this past April. Lovely place, just past the season for sakura in those parts but the lush green foliage was very soothing to look at.
Glad to read (via the link you provided) that the San Diego Sankei-en’s expansion will include a cherry tree grove. The blossoms are always a highlight whenever I happen to be in Japan during springtime, and will no doubt become a much-appreciated feature of the garden.
Cheerio.
What a great story about visiting Sankei-en at Yokohama! My last visit was rather much of a blur but I can only imagine it is spectacular.