Beautiful place. 10 bucks to get in is reasonable to support what they have going on here. Its peaceful and just feels like a whole different place than Arizona. The koi fish are beautiful and theres tons of them to see. The waterfall helps with the peaceful atmosphere and this is just a great place to go and relax. The pond is a decent size and the walk around it doesnt take a very long time so be sure to go slow and take in your surroundings.

The perfect date night destination and for not a lot of money. Walk in the garden, listen to the water. Sit and think, relax. Near downtown and close to a ton of great restaurants. We enjoyed the illuminated garden at night. Buy your tickets online ahead of time.

It’s a tranquil little oasis in the middle of the concrete jungle of Phoenix. It’s quite smaller than I expected, it’s basically a medium size pond and you traverse around the periphery and cross one bridge. Only 3 stars because other reviewer was right: young kid walking around barking at you to stay on the path? First off, it’s quite small so you want to explore a little more, secondly, it’s a Japanese garden and the point is to immerse yourself into nature as close as you can. That means standing as close to water or the elements as you can and not just “on the path”. Lastly, it’s called a “friendship garden”Lol and no one that works there was Japanese so ya wish they would be friendlier and let you venture off more. Disappointed a part of it was closed. Maybe its being expanded. $10 adults $7 student and free under age 6. Honestly should charge $5 IMO- when everything is donated. Loved seeing the Koi fish. And wish they had more educational stands to teach on Japanese culture. Overall a tranquil little stroll for a day. 5 to 8 pm made a perfect evening for a date/couples as it was cooler by than.

A wonderful peaceful place. Beautifully landscaped of course with plenty of trees for shade. Pond with lots of koi and a number of waterfalls. Tea house currently closed and not much blooming in October. You can see it all in 20-30 minutes or take your time and sit at any of the numerous benches and just enjoy the environment.

Even though it was small, it was very peaceful and visually pleasing. Definitely a great place to sit on a bench for a while to be in the moment, meditate, or just enjoy the scenery, or a romantic moment. Cute little gift shop and yummy Japanese beverages and confections for purchase. Adult admission when I went was $10, with inexpensive annual memberships available. They also have of their tea house for a few dollars more. For me, it was worth the admission

Beautiful place. Really set the mode. Honestly enjoyed the atmosphere. Me and my wife enjoyed the peaceful moment being in the heart of Phoenix. Pricing could have been more affordable. Recommend going during a discounted time garden wasn’t to big!!!!

A beautiful and peaceful space but not as large as I expected. If you are looking for a peaceful and quiet place to sit and meditate this is great but no more than a 10min walk (if youre walking slowly)

Beautiful friendship garden. They offer a student discount. Very calm and peaceful. Makes for great photos (but professional photos are not allowed). They no longer offer the option to feed the koi but they still swarm around when youre crossing the bridge

This was my first visit, and Debra was an absolute gem. She was so knowledgeable and helpful and ready to answer any questions and share her knowledge. If you go make sure to talk to Debra.

Its a small little paradise within Phoenix. Very affordable and relaxing to just walk around or sit and enjoy the ambience of the park.

Sadly I had a terrible experience at the garden this evening. The staff lacked zero enthusiasm whatsoever. There was a complete lack of customer service. There was no information given about the evening (luminary) stroll and I was left stumbling around in the dark using my phone to try to read the map. It would have been just fine if the evening strolls were free, but paying $15 to see some B-level nightclub lights attached to the well-crafted garden was felt disrespectful and overrated.

Lovely little Japanese garden. Well layed out. Koi, ducks and other birds. Nice bonsai trees and other plants. Enjoyed the gift shop as well. Good variety of Japanese food items such as mochi, drinks and candies. Other trinkets as well. Reasonable price and you can spend as little or as much time as you like. Was a great little date morning for me and my wife!!

Such a great place! Just moved to AZ and I have found a real happy place!

Very tranquil garden in the middle of Phoenix. Koi and ducks with waterfalls and short walks with bench seats. They offer discounts for military, students and seniors. Good for an hours visit.

Been in the valley for most of my life, never new this was also on top of the I-10 tunnel. What a great place to visit and take a nice walk in the morning.

Very peaceful. I had a great time walking the path and looking at the waterfalls and koi fish.

Beautiful and tranquil garden. just come here and read your book, or just listen to music. you will feel better. ️

It was just okay. Honestly, not worth the $10 admission. There’s a beautiful little koi fish pond that is really lovely, but that’s the highlight. The plants aren’t anything special. They just look like plants you could see anywhere in Arizona. It was just a let down for the way everything was described. I expected lovely plants and flowers and just had green trees and bushes.The good note, the koi fish and the little ducklings that happened to be there when I was there!

I took my family and got away from the madness of Covid. The garden is beautiful and the water features are relaxing. Its such a peaceful place to reconnect with nature. They have a small gift shop with a lot neat things and Japanese ice cream. My family lives it!

Small but very beautiful. Quite, relaxing, and lots of greenery. Pond was clean and coy fish were everywhere. Very nice place to walk around or just to sit down and think.

Was very calming wasnt that big but you just felt good even after you leave. Staff was very friendly and helpful was beautifully maintained. Price was good. I would recommend it to anyone

Beautiful Garden with kind and helpful staff. Great place to spend an hour and relax

Its small but very pretty and peaceful. Great spot to Zen for a bit and have a quiet walk before heading to the airport :)

Its so beautiful... i love it..

The Japanese Friendship Garden in Phoenix is a tranquil gem in the middle of a major city. Lots of beautiful landscape, Japanese statues, and koi. This garden was designed by a team of Japanese gardeners and is very sensitive to a true Japanese garden. Dont miss this when in Phoenix.

Super quaint place. The atmosphere is nice the garden is well kept. You can also feed the ducks but have to pay for their food.

Beautiful. Serene. Everyone is so friendly. It is very calming, relaxing. I could be here for days. $10 for entry fee but if you want to take photos theres an additional fee that is sizable.

We were under impressed. Very little to see and almost no informational boards to help you learn about Japanese culture. Staff was nice but I cannot recommend the garden in its current form.

Beauty in the heart of Phoenix. Definitely worth a visit. Take your time and relax.

Beautiful garden and koy pond. Very relaxing

This little piece of Japanese culture nestled right in the middle of the concrete jungle, surprisingly is so serene and full of peace. They have done a wonderful job of bringing Japan to Arizona. This is a great place to let go of your daily stressors and just breathe. We did do the tea and enjoyed the explanation of the culture. This will be a definite repeat experience for me.

This place is absolutely breath taking!!! Service is extremely friendly and its a gorgeous place to sit and meditate.

Great place to go in the mornings. Also several amazing pictures waiting to be captured.

It was beautiful and tranquil. Being that close to the freeway I would think that all I could hear is cars but when I was in the garden all I could hear is the wind in the trees and the birds singing. It doesn’t even feel like I’m in Arizona when I’m walking through the garden. There’s so many trees and vegetation. The Koyie fish swimming in the pond are so bright and beautiful. I really want to revisit this park to participate in the tea ceremony that happens once a month.

The garden itself was a little small, but exceptionally pretty and relaxing. It was great to see the Koi fish. Its also simple to pop on over to Hance Park from the friendship garden to have a relaxing afternoon with the family.

Charming, soothing aura. Wheelchair friendly in all areas except gift shop. The garden itself is beautiful though.

$10 seems a bit pricey for a small park. But its a nice, clean and quiet escape.

This is pretty but its INCREDIBLY small. I came from San Francisco and our Japanese garden is huge haha but this was calm and quiet. They sell drinks and snacks. If you can go on a weekday afternoon it is mostly empty. There are many koi fish too.

I seriously love this place! Its a gem. Tiny but worth it. Its one day f my favorite places to visit in Phoenix.

Fantastic gem hidden in Phoenix. Reunited family and brought peace during an otherwise dismal 2020. The staff and knowledge of Japanese culture were great, coffee and drinks were very affordable and gardens were gorgeous!!!

Very tranquil place to melt that takes you a completely different place. Where Phoenix is dry, arid, and loud; the Japanese Friendship Garden is green, tranquil and quiet. Year-round, a great place to enjoy some respite from the rigors of city life.

Cute place, relaxing to walk around and enjoy the Christmas lights.

This is an amazing garden, beautifully designed and very relaxing!

We got married here a number of years ago and it is still a beautiful place. Its a fairly short stroll for the price of admission, but theyve done a terrific job w the landscaping.

This is a very unique spot in Phoenix. Its not as large as you may expect. Its a peaceful experience and well upkept. The admission price is steep for what you get, but its definitely worth seeing at least once. The koi in the pond are the highlight. The tranquil setting can be interrupted by screaming kids at the nearby park.

Its a nice 7 min walk around. $10 adult admission. They also have first fridays of the month free. I would recommend that if bringing a family or group. Wish I could have gone to the moon viewing event tonight Oct 2019.

Absolutely beautiful garden. Spend some time here and relax. Its a great place to step away from the fast pace on the outside. Much to enjoy and beautifully designed.

Super peaceful and tranquil :) A great place to meditate and leave the loud city life behind for a while. Also a lovely place to take children to spend time together and see the koi fish!

A beautiful experience of nature, culture, and purpose. The friendship garden has a small, ~0.5 loop that encompasses wildlife, fountains, trees, and more. There is a really nice open area that they sometimes do presentations on for the public. The first Friday of the month is also a free Friday!!

Small and cute garden. You can check out free tickets for two people in local libraries. Fish are pretty healthy and biiiiger! Even bigger than those ducks. Tens of parking lot and a small souvenir shop with fair pricing. Nice place to bring your kids or enjoy some time by sitting on the bench.

The place is beautiful but small. I wished it was a little bigger, but the garden itself is picturesque.

It is such a beautiful and interesting place to visit.

Very cute relaxing little place. I love the koi and the visiting ducks.

Pretty tranquil place, with all the flowing water, Coi, ducks and the breeze. It was a perfect day to be there. The admission price a little high. But they have upkeep too. Apparently they have a festival Coming up i December sounds like fun, will definitely come back.

Perfect weather to walk around the garden. Saw some baby ducks also.

Kind of small and only slightly charming. The golden gate park one is much nicer.

As we walked around, the staff kept watching after us, and every time we try to take a picture, they keep bothering us. The Desert Botanical Garden has the same entrance fee and they allow us to take pictures anywhere we want; and Im just saying, they should be more flexible with the rules. Not to mention, the botanical garden is ten times bigger than the garden.In a time of pandemic like this, they should be thankful we came to visit. A $40 visit for a family of four to this garden is disappointing; we were expecting it to be as unique as online said it was, but the plants found in it could be found in any other place. We even bought a kimono to help contribute to its funding, yet they treat us as if we snuck in when we paid; they should be grateful were taking pictures and practically promoting them.The Desert Botanical Garden costs the exact same, and it was definitely a better experience with a larger variety of unique plants to see.

Beautifuily kept. Hours too short. $10 admission. Staff watch over you. Looming condos. No swans. Few ducks. Lots of gorgeous colorful personality filled Kois. Small park.

Small business but a very nice pice of Japan including some gifts l, and drinks, beer, and snacks and candy!

Not a lot of seating areas. Some paths are one way which can be confusing depending on which way you start. There should be more labels or things to read in my opinion. You can walk through the whole garden in 10 minutes. We took 2 laps and it was overall disappointing.

This was such a fun place to visit. We loved being able to feed the koi fish and the walk around the garden was so peaceful. It is a nice way to spend the afternoon and pretty inexpensive. I wish there was a little more to do/see but for the price it was great!

Good place to walk around in peace and quiet in the context of a pond with Japanese fish and a small waterfall. Its relatively small but has some spots to meditate away from others (who usually congregate around the pond).If youre here as a tourist, just a heads up that there isnt a lot to see here. Youll get to see and feed the fish but you can see everything in like 30 minutes. On the bright side its pretty cheap ($7 for adults).

A beautiful garden, and would have received five stars, except that it is quite small and charges $10 for entrance. That is a bit steep for such a small place.You can enjoy the entire gardens and see everything in 1/2 hour.

Beautiful and lots Koi fish to watch.... Peaceful and great place to meditate

Very quiet and amazingly serene. The koi as so stunning and the waterfall are too calming

This is a perfect place for a fall afternoon in Phoenix. Very close to down town and reasonably priced. Staff was knowledgeable and friendly. The area in not that large but you can easily spend a few hours here.

Serene and beautiful garden in the middle of downtown Phoenix. Its astounding how quiet it is here considering its location, but somehow it is. A great spot to relax, surrounded by waterfalls, trees, koi fish and ducks. Also one of the employees, Deborah, was very friendly and told me all about Phoenixs sister cities. Definitely recommend!

The garden is serene and peaceful. Its beautiful too. The only reason for 3 stars is I had only spent 15 minutes and had to use $10 for entry. Probably would be a good spot to think about stuff with peaceful water fall sounds though

Absolutely beautiful grounds. Very peaceful oasis in the middle of the busy city.

This is absolutely an exquisite place to visit here in the valley of the sun! My husband and I travel to Japan frequently and appreciate the cultural influence that this garden brings to Phoenix. They are the host of numerous events from September through June every year. So if you’re thinking about getting married and want to beautiful place to host, this would be it. If you wanted to have an afternoon picnic with friends and/or family, this would be the perfect setting. Visit their website for more information!

I went to the Japanese Friendship Garden with my sister and it was very beautiful! If we lived in Phoenix we would have lunch here regularly. Its very peaceful and quiet even though its in the city. The ponds are full of plenty of Koi fish, and I would highly recommend feeding them! I would definetly come back, and recommend this to families!

Really nice for a short walk, and there is a fee to enter. Only allow service dogs sadly.

Enjoyed this garden very much with my daughter. Alot of fish and ducks wich my daughter loved. Some shady areas to sit and take a break. Would be nice place for a little picnic as well. It was a bit hot out so I suggest going around sunset hours.

The garden is small but well done; expect to spend less than an hour at the garden (unless youre getting super Zen). We were there early in the morning (around 10 am) and it was not crowded at all. Admission is $7 and a bag of fish food is $1.

Its a very small place i can walk the whole thing in less then 10 minutes or maybe less. But yet its a very nice place

Very nice and tranquil. We got to see baby ducks! very cute.

Good place to walk and relax

The grounds are very well kept, beautiful, and serene. The admission price is just way too high for how tiny this place is. Literally takes 5 minutes to walk around the entire garden. Price should be half what they are charging. At least I can say Ive been.

An awesome place to visit. Very friendly staff. A little get away from the city. Also staff mention they have events where vendors an live music an performances happen on the property. Look forward to attending.

A peaceful and nice piece of paradise in Phoenix. I try to visit every time I visit Arizona. Hopefully they will expand the garden. Would love to see Japanese culture make an impact in the desert.

Paid $10 per person online plus fees. There were 4 of us. Basically paid to enter a park. Stay on the path and youll see lots of plants and koi fish. Thats about it. Took us 15 minutes and we left. Never again.

Certificate Of Vaccination IDentification-19...Mask to be worn at the Japanese Garden!?I did not wear mine, except to get in, but others with paranoid eyes peering over their masks, ruined the experience

Tranquil when the outside construction stopped. Clean, short ez walk.

The guy at the window was so kind, helpful, and informative. The garden is absolutely beautiful.

Very calming and peaceful park tucked along the I-10 corridor.

It was nice,but 10.00 was too much. It was a tiny area

So beautiful! Though I wish there were. Ot construction outside it was beautiful and peaceful! The people working there were nice and I would love to go again!

Perfect little oasis in the middle of our chaos.

Beautiful Japanese Garden which is owned and operated by the City of Phoenix. They host tea ceremony few times a year. Closed in the summer time.

@jfgphx was an awesome park! Well maintained and inviting. A hidden landscape to ravish greenery in Downtown Phoenix. The sound of the birds chirping and the smell of the water carried over the smell of the blades of fresh grass is a treat for the sensory organs. A must visit to all age groups willing to experience tranquility amid the bustle of frantic city life.The ticket for General admission is $10 each. Online reservation is available along with preferred dates. The timings are 7am to 12pm and 5pm to 8pm. They also have a gift shop where you can get memoribilia. More ticketing is also available on their official website.Better take in water bottle. No other food is allowed inside. It would be advisable to take a cap when visiting in the evening. Current COVID 19 measures requires that it is mandatory to wear a mask when inside and maintain 6ft distance as well.Try it. You wont regret it!

This garden is really beautiful, green, and shady. A great stop for pheonix. It is a little pricey for the size of the garden so plan on staying or taking a few laps around the pond. They do have a tea house but you need reservations. The staff was all really friendly and bathrooms were clean. There is a park right outside the gates that the kids or dogs can run around but this garden is more serene and quiet. It is free admission on first fridays from 5-8pm.

A nice place to enjoy some outside time with pretty views. Kids 6 and under are free. There are plenty of great spots for family pictures. There are large clean restrooms and a small gift shop. You will often find different art pieces on display on the grounds.

Beautiful garden, love the attention to detail!

Staff wasn’t the friendliest but the garden was cute! I went with my cousins and we had a good time. It’s different from most downtown spots, beautiful

Went here with my family for a wedding and liked how comfortable it felt. Well manicured plants and clear water. Good place for a wedding.

Was pretty. But very very small! Was disappointed.

Oasis in the city. Peaceful waters and beautiful plantings make it special

Truly a beautiful and well maintained attraction for everyone! Wonderful and serene. We brought the entire family, and you should too!Ive never had ducks and pigeons eat from my hand until today. The pigeons were landing on our arms and shoulders (not in an irritating or menacing way) and ate the $1 bag of food pellets out of our hands. Ducks came walking up to us at the shore and ate food from our hands.Such a relaxing atmosphere they have created at the Japanese Friendship Garden.

A bit small and I wish they charge half the price. Seemed popular though with locals as there was a line when we left. The kois are huge and had enough room to float around.

Beautiful, peaceful gardens.