Bakersfield - Wakayama

Sister City Gardens at Mill Creek - Bakersfield, CA

These gardens honor all five of Bakersfield’s current sister city relationships.

A reception was held there as part of the Sister Cities International SoCal-NorCal Sister Cities Joint Meeting in May 2018.

• Link to Powerpoint presentation prepared by Wakayama Committee Co-Chair Sue Stone for the meeting.  It is now posted on the Bakersfield City Recreation & Parks website: https://content.civicplus.com/api/assets/3ad70aa3-a4d2-42bf-946f-f2418d338bf5 

In October 2016, for their 55th Anniversary celebration, Mayor Masahiro Obana and a delegation visited Bakersfield from Wakayama. He and Mayor Harvey Hall planted a cherry tree in the Wakayama section of the gardens and unveiled a plaque to commemorate the occasion.

In 2018 & 2019, Bakersfield held their Sister City Gardens Festival in the garden. The festival was cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic. Video of last year’s festival here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk9RwytLOYE&t=4s

Concord - Kitakami

Concord-Kitakami Friendship Garden - Concord, CA

The Concord-Kitakami Friendship Garden and 100th Anniversary Cherry Blossom/Sakura Tree are located at Concord City Hall, 1950 Parkside Drive, Concord, CA 94519. More information is available in this PDF brochure.

Fairfield - Nirasaki

To Be Announced

They are planning to design a very small Japanese-style garden area in the City Hall complex as part of their 50th anniversary celebration. Nothing has been started yet due to the pandemic but they hope to begin planning soon.

Fresno - Kochi

Shinzen Japanese Garden - Fresno, CA

A full history and other information about the Shinzen Japanese Garden can be found on their website here: www.shinzenjapanesegarden.org

San Jose - Okayama

Kelley Park Japanese Friendship Garden - San Jose, CA

The Japanese Friendship Garden in San Jose (Kelley Park) was dedicated in 1960 as a tangible testament to the formalized Sister City relationship between San Jose, CA and Okayama City, Okayama, Japan (1957). You can see more information here: https://www.sanjoseca.gov/Home/Components/FacilityDirectory/FacilityDirectory/2835/

The JFG is owned by the City of San Jose and managed under the Department of Parks, Recreation & Neighborhood Services (PRNS). Work is still being scheduled (FEMA) to bring the koi ponds & tea house back from the damage to the park from flooding in 2017.

However, because of the great work of volunteers, including the "Friends of the JFG" and the San Jose Parks Foundation, the Nikkei Matsuri organization, and San Jose-Okayama Sister Cities, the park is walkable and even has a self-guided tour pamphlet, completed as part of a Girl Scout Gold Award Project (view PDF here). Monthly volunteer clean-up activities are scheduled with the “Friends of the JFG” and the public by the City of San Jose (PRNS). You can visit the park, see the beautiful landscaping, and see the koi (in the upper pond) and the many stone lanterns and other features of the garden. The garden was modeled after the great Koraku-en in Okayama, recognized as one of the three great landscaped gardens in Japan. It is located behind Okayama Castle.

The above photo was most likely taken in San Francisco as San Jose International was not open for non-stop international flights from Japan (Tokyo) until the late 1980's with the American Airlines terminal. The first koi arrived via JAL in 1968, which were donated from a koi breeder in Hiroshima. This photo may be from the first flight of koi. San Jose went to pick up the koi which were then trucked from San Francisco to the Japanese Friendship Garden in Kelley Park. A few years later, more koi were donated which were selected from the great ponds in Koraku-en in Okayama.

san mateo - toyonaka

The City of San Mateo Japanese Garden - San Mateo, CA

This garden is partially sponsored by their sister city in Japan, Toyonaka. It is about one acre in size and was designed by Nagao Sakurai, who worked as a landscape architect for the Imperial Palace in Tokyo. It has wonderful elements including waterfalls, a koi pond, a five tiered pagoda, several different styles of lanterns, and a tea house. Many of the features were gifts from Toyonaka. More information is available in this PDF brochure.

Saratoga - muko

Hakone Estate and Gardens - Saratoga, CA

The Saratoga Sister City Organization continues to work with the Hakone Foundation to organize events, a student exchange program, and host joint Japan trips, with John Tauchi overseeing trip planning. In 2011 the Northern Culture Museum in Niigata, Japan reached out to the Hakone Foundation to establish a one-of-a-kind international Sister Garden relationship. A full history and other information about the Hakone Estate and Gardens can be found on their website here: https://www.hakone.com/ 

south san francisco - kishiwada

South San Francisco Sister City Linear Park - South San Francisco, CA

The Linear Park pays tribute to their five Sister Cities and involves the membership in cleanups and planting events. More information can be found here: https://www.ssf.net/home/showpublisheddocument/250/636317773361730000

Visalia - Miki

Miki City Park - Visalia, CA

Miki City Park was dedicated on Earth Day 2017 to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the relationship.

Link to a newsletter about the park: https://www.visalia.city/news/newsletter.asp?ID=267 

Photo of the dedication of the park: https://thesungazette.com/article/news/2018/08/08/mayor-warren-gubler-is-leading-a-citizens-group-to-visalias-sister-city-miki-japan-in-october/