Visiting Buffalo's Japanese Gardens

One of the most peaceful and relaxing places in Buffalo can be found just behind the Buffalo History Museum, which is located at One Museum Court, in the northwest corner of Delaware Park.

Delaware Park is part of a parks system that was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and his partner Calvert Vaux in 1870. The park, which features a lake and pastoral parklands, was completed in 1876. The parks system that Olmsted and Vaux designed was considered to the first municipal park system planned in detail by landscape architects in the United States.

The establishment of sister city relationships between Buffalo and Kanazawa, Japan, led the way to the creation of the peaceful and meditative Japanese gardens, located behind the Buffalo History Museum.

In 1974, the collaboration of the people of Buffalo and Kanazawa resulted in the design and the construction of the Japanese gardens. Renovations and updates were done in 1996.

Today, the gardens are maintained by the Buffalo Olmsted Conservancy.  The gardens, with their statues, cherry trees, and other plantings, have become an oasis of peacefulness in the city.

Events that are held there include the annual cherry blossom festival in April or May and Indigenous People's Day in August.

The Japanese Gardens are also considered to be a desirable place to hold weddings. It is also a good site for plein aire painting.