If you’re looking to unwind in a tranquil setting this summer, consider a trip to one of Michigan’s Japanese gardens.
The mitten state features four Japanese-style gardens, offering a chance to discover Japanese landscapes and culture. At some, accompanying tea houses provide demonstrations on Japanese tea culture with an opportunity to taste the local flavors.
“Japanese gardens are living expressions of harmony, tradition, and craftsmanship. Their beauty invites contemplation, their landscapes tell stories, and their presence connects generations,” the North American Japanese Garden Association’s website says.
Here’s what to know.
How many Japanese gardens are in the U.S.?
The U.S. features over 60 Japanese gardens, according to the North American Japanese Garden Association.
What is a Japanese garden?
Japanese gardens are based on a simple design, typically featuring plants and trees native to Japan; rocks; water as ponds, streams or waterfalls; bridges and stone lanterns, per Japeto, a Japanese-inspired gardening company.
How did Japanese gardens become popular in the U.S.?
Japanese-inspired gardens began popping up in the U.S. in the late 19th century at World Fairs, attracting great interest from the American public, the Japanese American National Museum’s website says. This spread nationwide, with hundreds of public and private Japanese gardens built. The gardens remain popular for Americans seeking tranquil nature to unwind amid urban and suburban environments, per the museum.
Explore Japanese greenery in west Michigan’s Meijer Gardens
In Grand Rapids, the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park features the Richard & Helen Devos Japanese Garden. The garden includes plants native to Japan, Michigan and other areas; four waterfalls; sculptures; a Zen-style dry rock garden and more. This summer, 45-minute guided walking tours will be available.
Visitors can also experience tea ceremonies at the garden’s Japanese teahouse at $100 for members and $110 for non-members. All ceremonies for the 2025 season are sold out, but you can join a waitlist online.
The Meijer Gardens are open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Mondays; 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays; 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays-Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Sundays per the gardens’ website. Admission is free for members, $22 for adults ages 14-64, $17 for seniors ages 65 and older, $16 for students with ID, $2 for the Museums for All discount, $11 for children ages 3-13 and children ages 2 and under free.
Enjoy tea and a stroll at Saginaw’s Japanese Cultural Center
At the Japanese Cultural Center, Tea House & Gardens of Saginaw, you can walk through a peaceful 3-acre Japanese garden near downtown, observe a Japanese tea ceremony and taste tea and sweets in the tea house. The Tokushima-Saginaw Friendship Garden includes lush greenery, Japanese rocks, a waterfall, a vermillion arch bridge and winding stream and stone lanterns, with views of Lake Linton and Ojibwe Island. The bridge is under construction this season, per the center’s website.
The gardens are currently open from noon to 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. There will be a variety of events at the gardens this summer and fall, including tea ceremonies, yoga, festivals, garden volunteering and more.
Tour Japanese landscape in mid-Michigan at Lansing Community College campus
In Lansing, the Lansing Community College campus features the Shigematsu Memorial Garden, a Japanese-style garden. Named after Megumi Shigematsu, a sponsor of LCC programs in Japan, the garden includes Japanese plants and trees, stone lanterns, a moon-viewing deck over a pond, a water basin, walking paths, a hill, Japanese carp fish and rock gardens.
Cranbrook offers historic Japanese scenery in metro Detroit
In southeast Michigan, the Cranbrook House & Gardens in Bloomfield Hills boasts one of North America’s most historic Japanese-style gardens, the Cranbrook Japanese Garden.
Opened in 1915, this 1-acre garden is set on Lily Pond with its two islands and includes a Japanese-style vermillion bridge, a Lily Pond cascade with a new Mountain Lantern and an original 1915 Japanese Kasuga Lantern. The garden is currently undergoing restoration work.
For the spring and summer seasons, Cranbrook Gardens are open daily from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Guided tours of the Japanese garden are offered one Sunday a month at 1:30 p.m. through October. Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for students. The Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research also hosts Japanese cultural events.
Contact Jenna Prestininzi: jprestininzi@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Looking for a quiet escape? 4 Japanese gardens in Michigan to check out.
Reporting by Jenna Prestininzi, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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