Japanese Gardens Around the World: A Growing Trend

From the Chelsea Flower Show to Oregon's Washington Park, Japanese garden design is finding new homes far from Kyoto.

Published October 26, 2026 at 12:20 PM JST | By Tokyo Paul

Quick answer: Japanese garden design is popular overseas because its ideas travel well: calm, simplicity, and respect for natural materials. At the 2026 Chelsea Flower Show, four of the nine large show gardens drew on Japanese traditions, according to the Royal Horticultural Society. In the United States, Portland Japanese Garden in Oregon welcomed about 400,000 visitors in 2024.

Walk through almost any large botanical garden today and a stone lantern, a moss-covered rock or a zigzag bridge is likely to appear somewhere. People ask whether this is a passing fashion or a lasting movement, and where the best examples can be found. This guide looks at how Japanese gardens first reached the West, what Chelsea and Portland show about current interest, and which design ideas travel best. It also offers practical tips for visiting overseas gardens with a Japanese eye.

Chelsea 2026 puts Japanese design in the spotlight

The Royal Horticultural Society reported that four of the nine large show gardens at RHS Chelsea in May 2026 drew on Japanese design traditions. The society linked this to wider interest in Japan: UK travel to Japan rose 43 percent between April 2024 and April 2025, and nearly a third of Britons list Japan as a top bucket-list destination.

The best-known entry was Tokonoma Garden by Kazuyuki Ishihara, a designer from Nagasaki Prefecture, who has won 13 gold medals at the show between 2006 and 2025. His 2026 garden earned a silver-gilt medal. It was built around the tokonoma, the raised alcove once central to Japanese family life, and visitors viewed the scene from outside as if looking into a quiet room. It used white sand, stones, moss, a stone lantern and a restrained palette of greens with blue and purple irises. The RHS said the garden is planned to be relocated within the UK.

Other show gardens borrowed different ideas. One drew on yohaku no bi, the beauty of empty space. Another used kintsugi, the practice of mending broken pottery with gold, and a third took inspiration from wabi-sabi, the appreciation of imperfection and natural aging.

Why the style appeals to new audiences

Designers quoted by the RHS describe Japanese design as a calm counterweight to busy, digital lives. They point to simplicity, balance and the idea of working with nature rather than controlling it. One designer said the quiet, uncluttered look is a natural antidote to modern hurry, while Ishihara said what matters most is the intention behind each feature rather than the number of features.

These qualities also make the style adaptable. A small courtyard can borrow a single stone, a basin and a maple. A larger garden can add a pond, a path and a teahouse. Because the principles are about restraint and arrangement rather than a fixed plant list, designers abroad can work with local materials.

How Japanese gardens first traveled west

Japanese gardens reached Europe and North America in the late nineteenth century as part of Japonisme, the wave of Western interest in Japanese art and design. They suited a growing Western taste for naturalistic gardens, and they were especially popular in Britain, where the climate suited many Japanese plants.

Josiah Conder's book Landscape Gardening in Japan, published in 1893, introduced the aesthetic to English-speaking readers. The designer Seyemon Kusumoto was involved in about 200 gardens in the UK and exhibited a rock garden at Chelsea in 1937. Well-known examples today include Holland Park in London, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the Chicago Botanic Garden, Nitobe Memorial Garden in Vancouver, Nikka Yuko in Lethbridge, Cowra Japanese Garden and the Adelaide Himeji Garden in Australia.

Portland, a case study in lasting interest

Portland Japanese Garden in Oregon shows how an overseas garden can grow over time. It treats 1963 as its founding year, when the Japanese Garden Society of Oregon was formed, and it opened to the public in 1967. Professor Takuma Tono of Tokyo Agricultural University designed the original garden, which now covers about 12.5 acres in Washington Park. The garden has stayed open through winter since 1981 and welcomed about 400,000 visitors in 2024.

The North American Japanese Garden Association notes that attendance rose from roughly 7,000 to 10,000 visitors a year around 1970 to about 500,000 by 2000, which led to expansion. The Cultural Village, designed by architect Kengo Kuma and opened in 2017, added a learning center, library, classroom and cafe. In February 2026, Homes & Gardens magazine named Portland Japanese Garden among its 21 most beautiful gardens in the world.

Adapting a garden to a new climate

Overseas gardens cannot simply copy Japan, and the best ones adapt thoughtfully. At Portland, directors tested plants unfamiliar from Japan to learn which suited the Oregon climate. A planned moss garden did not thrive because the site was too sunny and dry, and the space later became a shaded, cool natural garden instead. The tea house and the sand and stone garden were moved because the original ground was unstable.

The association describes the garden as a work in progress, always changing, with a Western-style layout whose components are Japanese. One scholar quoted on Wikipedia argued that some recreated American gardens became more Americanized over time, which is a reminder that translation always involves choices.

Design ideas that travel well

Several principles from classic Japanese gardens appear again and again overseas. Miegakure, hide and reveal, uses hills, trees or walls to conceal views that appear gradually along a path. Shakkei, borrowed scenery, incorporates a distant mountain or tree line into the view. Stone groupings and water, or raked gravel standing in for water, balance each other.

Asymmetry avoids straight axes and a single dominant focal point. Evergreens give structure, while moss suggests age. Tsubo-niwa, tiny courtyard gardens of about one tsubo (roughly 3.3 square meters), show that even a very small space can contain a complete composition.

Visiting overseas gardens with a Japanese eye

Start by looking at the path. In many Japanese-style gardens the route is planned so that views change every few steps. Pause at the points where the designer expects you to stop, such as a bench by a pond or a gate that frames a lantern.

Look for seasonal contrast too. Maples glow in autumn, spring brings fresh green growth, and winter shows the bones of pines and stones. Some overseas gardens hold tea events or workshops, so check each garden's official calendar and opening hours before you go.

Connecting overseas gardens to a trip to Japan

For many travelers, an overseas garden becomes the spark for a visit to the originals. Types such as dry rock gardens, stroll gardens and tea gardens are easier to appreciate after seeing a sample close to home. In Japan, planning a route around a few contrasting gardens in one region gives a satisfying comparison: one rocky and minimal, one watery and wandering, one tiny and urban.

Want to go deeper? Tokyo Paul's book Japanese Gardens Made Simple is available on Amazon.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are Japanese gardens popular outside Japan?

Designers cite calm, simplicity and a cooperative approach to nature. The Royal Horticultural Society noted that four of nine large show gardens at Chelsea in 2026 drew on Japanese traditions, alongside strong interest in travel to Japan. The principles also adapt well to small spaces and local plants.

What is the best-known Japanese garden in the United States?

Many visitors point to Portland Japanese Garden in Oregon, which covers about 12.5 acres and drew about 400,000 visitors in 2024. Others include the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and Chicago Botanic Garden, which have Japanese sections. Which is best depends on region and season.

Is it possible to build a Japanese-style garden at home?

Yes, in a small way. Many designers start with a few key elements: a stone grouping, a water basin or raked gravel, evergreens and moss or low plants suited to your climate. Local gardening groups and botanical gardens can advise on plant choices.

Keep Exploring

More guides from Tokyo Paul: Japanese Gardens: Pond, Stroll and Dry Landscape Styles, Karesansui: The Zen Rock Gardens of Kyoto and Photographing Japanese Gardens: Composition, Light and Seasons.