Photos: Michael Warnock · CC BY-SA 3.0 (1, 2) · Varma Penmetsa · CC0 · trophygeek from San Francisco · CC BY 2.0 (4, 5)
A walled garden in Golden Gate Park, with ponds, a pagoda, a tea house and a very steep arched bridge.
Why it's unique
It began at the 1894 Midwinter Fair, and it is the oldest public Japanese garden in the United States. The garden's operators claim North America; the press says the US, and that is the safer scope.
The story is the reason to read past the postcard: the Hagiwara family tended this garden for almost 50 years until they were sent to an internment camp in 1942, and they never got their home here back.
Before you go
Entry is free from 9 to 10am on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. All visitors must reserve a timed slot, and last entry is 30 minutes before closing.
The drum bridge is steep enough that you climb it like a ladder. The tea house stands on the site of the original 1894 one and looks over the south pond. Cherry trees bloom in March and April. It takes about half an hour to see.
