Japanese Garden

For over a century, the historic Japanese Garden has been one of the most beloved and iconic landscapes at The Huntington, with its distinctive moon bridge, picture-postcard views of koi-filled ponds and the historic Japanese House. One of the most popular spots at The Huntington, the Japanese Garden has attracted millions of visitors and remains a site of both fascination and contemplation.

Japanese Heritage Shōya House

Experience a restored residential compound from 18th-century Japan providing a glimpse into rural Japanese life some 300 years ago.

 

Three people stand in a gravel courtyard, near a path leading to a traditional Japanese house.
A traditional Japanese home with a gravel courtyard, on a sunny day.

Shōya House

Hours | Wed.–Mon., noon–4 p.m.



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This 3,000-square-foot residence built around 1700, served as the center of village life in Marugame, Japan. The compound has been reconstructed on a 2-acre site, which includes a newly constructed gatehouse and courtyard based on the original structures, as well as a small garden with a pond, an irrigation canal, agricultural plots, and other landscape elements that closely resemble the compound’s original setting. Visitors will be able to walk through a portion of the house and see how inhabitants lived their daily lives within the thoughtfully designed and meticulously crafted 320-year-old structure.

Close-up view of the front entrance and courtyard of a traditional Japanese home.

Shōya House

Hours | Wed.–Mon., noon–4 p.m.



More

This 3,000-square-foot residence built around 1700, served as the center of village life in Marugame, Japan. The compound has been reconstructed on a 2-acre site, which includes a newly constructed gatehouse and courtyard based on the original structures, as well as a small garden with a pond, an irrigation canal, agricultural plots, and other landscape elements that closely resemble the compound’s original setting. Visitors will be able to walk through a portion of the house and see how inhabitants lived their daily lives within the thoughtfully designed and meticulously crafted 320-year-old structure.

View from inside a traditional Japanese home with tatami mats and sliding walls open to a private garden.

Shōya House

Hours | Wed.–Mon., noon–4 p.m.



More

This 3,000-square-foot residence built around 1700, served as the center of village life in Marugame, Japan. The compound has been reconstructed on a 2-acre site, which includes a newly constructed gatehouse and courtyard based on the original structures, as well as a small garden with a pond, an irrigation canal, agricultural plots, and other landscape elements that closely resemble the compound’s original setting. Visitors will be able to walk through a portion of the house and see how inhabitants lived their daily lives within the thoughtfully designed and meticulously crafted 320-year-old structure.

A formal reception room in a traditional Japanese house, with sliding doors open to a private garden.

Shōya House

Hours | Wed.–Mon., noon–4 p.m.



More

This 3,000-square-foot residence built around 1700, served as the center of village life in Marugame, Japan. The compound has been reconstructed on a 2-acre site, which includes a newly constructed gatehouse and courtyard based on the original structures, as well as a small garden with a pond, an irrigation canal, agricultural plots, and other landscape elements that closely resemble the compound’s original setting. Visitors will be able to walk through a portion of the house and see how inhabitants lived their daily lives within the thoughtfully designed and meticulously crafted 320-year-old structure.

A private garden courtyard at a traditional Japanese home.

Shōya House

Hours | Wed.–Mon., noon–4 p.m.



More

This 3,000-square-foot residence built around 1700, served as the center of village life in Marugame, Japan. The compound has been reconstructed on a 2-acre site, which includes a newly constructed gatehouse and courtyard based on the original structures, as well as a small garden with a pond, an irrigation canal, agricultural plots, and other landscape elements that closely resemble the compound’s original setting. Visitors will be able to walk through a portion of the house and see how inhabitants lived their daily lives within the thoughtfully designed and meticulously crafted 320-year-old structure.

Rear view of a traditional Japanese home, with a gravel path and private garden.

Shōya House

Hours | Wed.–Mon., noon–4 p.m.



More

This 3,000-square-foot residence built around 1700, served as the center of village life in Marugame, Japan. The compound has been reconstructed on a 2-acre site, which includes a newly constructed gatehouse and courtyard based on the original structures, as well as a small garden with a pond, an irrigation canal, agricultural plots, and other landscape elements that closely resemble the compound’s original setting. Visitors will be able to walk through a portion of the house and see how inhabitants lived their daily lives within the thoughtfully designed and meticulously crafted 320-year-old structure.

Three people stand on a long gravel path that leads between open fields of plants, to a gatehouse.

Shōya House

Hours | Wed.–Mon., noon–4 p.m.



More

This 3,000-square-foot residence built around 1700, served as the center of village life in Marugame, Japan. The compound has been reconstructed on a 2-acre site, which includes a newly constructed gatehouse and courtyard based on the original structures, as well as a small garden with a pond, an irrigation canal, agricultural plots, and other landscape elements that closely resemble the compound’s original setting. Visitors will be able to walk through a portion of the house and see how inhabitants lived their daily lives within the thoughtfully designed and meticulously crafted 320-year-old structure.

A large, two story Japanese-style house with sliding walls open onto a garden.

Japanese House

Elements of this five-room house were created in Japan and shipped to Pasadena around 1904 for a commercial garden. Acquired by Henry E. Huntington in 1911, the structure is composed of several Japanese woods, with paneled doors to the outside that can be left open or closed to allow inhabitants to enjoy the gardens around them. Inner walls can easily be moved to increase room size or privacy. During a 2011 renovation, original architectural features were discovered, such as the distinctive curves of the roof line and original plaster and wood finishes. Restored, today the structure is considered one of the best examples of early twentieth-century Japanese architecture in the United States.

Small house-like building surrounded by plants and rocks.

Ceremonial Teahouse

The ceremonial teahouse, called Seifu-an (the Arbor of Pure Breeze), was built in Kyoto in the 1960s and donated to The Huntington by the Pasadena Buddhist Temple. In 2010, the teahouse made a return trip to Japan for restoration, overseen by Kyoto-based architect Yoshiaki Nakamura (whose father built the original structure). It was then shipped back to San Marino and painstakingly reassembled. The teahouse location within a traditionally landscaped tea garden atop a picturesque ridge provides a stunning setting for demonstrations of the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. (Unlike the tea shop in the Chinese Garden or the Rose Garden Tea Room, it does not serve refreshments.)

Zen Court

Yellow Ginkgo trees above a wide walkway in a walled courtyard.

The Zen Court provides an example of the contained landscapes that once evolved in the temple gardens of Japan. Patterns raked into gravel, rock formations, and shrubbery are used to symbolize water, space, movement, and other abstract ideas.

Bonsai Collection

A walled garden courtyard lined with bonsai trees on wooden pedestals.

Since 1990, The Huntington has served as the Southern California site for the Golden State Bonsai Federation and trees in the collection now number in the hundreds.

Suiseki Court

Decorative "viewing stones" sit atop concrete pedestals in a garden.

In the Harry Hirao Suiseki Court, visitors are invited to touch the suiseki or viewing stones, an ancient Japanese art form.