Welcome to the 60th anniversary season of the Seattle Japanese Garden!

Garden Opening Day on June 5th, 1960

Welcome back to a very special 60th anniversary season in the Seattle Japanese Garden!

On June 5th, 1960, the newly-completed Seattle Japanese Garden opened to the public for the first time. Instead of just commemorating the one day, we’ve created a season-long series of special events and programs to celebrate the past and future of the garden. Check out our event calendar for the full schedule, but here are a few highlights!

Family Saturday starts out this season with a special March event! We’ve partnered with Seattle Repertory Theatre to create an outdoor Climate Change Arts Festival in the garden. This event features an exciting lineup of local performers, and a preview of the current Seattle Rep show, The Children. There will also be kid-friendly crafts and a climate justice resource fair in the Tateuchi Community Room from 11:00AM until 2:00PM.

Courtesy of the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience

In 2020, our Free First Thursday programming is back, offering free entry into the garden from 1:00PM until close on the first Thursday of each month! This program kicks off on April 2nd with an opening reception for Meet Me at Higo, an exhibit on loan from the Wing Luke Museum. Meet Me at Higo is an American story inspired by the Sanzo Murakami family and their ownership of the Higo 10 Cents Store/Higo Variety Store in Seattle, Washington.

Photo courtesy of David Rosen/Slickpix Photography

Another special anniversary event is an exhibit created in partnership with the Elisabeth C. Miller Library. Seeing | Seeds | Stories  will be on display at both sites for the month of July and features 5 artists (three at the Seattle Japanese Garden’s Tateuchi Community Room, and two at the Elisabeth C. Miller Library) who portray the garden with their stories in celebration of the 60th anniversary. They have each created their own narrative of the space, expressing through their individual mediums the unseen moments that make a visit to the garden special.

Garden Party 2018, photo courtesy of Aurora Santiago

Finally, save the date for Garden Party, our biennial summer fundraiser. This year’s party will be Thursday, July 23rd –the evening before the start of the Tokyo Summer Olympics. More details to be announced, but this rare opportunity to eat, drink, and dance in the garden is not to be missed!