San Jose Car Rentals and Shinzen Japanese Friendship Garden

A little piece of the East is located in the heart of Fresno, thanks to the Shinzen Japanese Friendship Garden. Created in honor of Fresnos sister city, Kochi, Japan, the Shinzen Garden features authentic Japanese flora and intricate eastern architecture. Complete with stone lanterns and a teahouse, the Shinzen Japanese Friendship Garden features four different areas, each of which is planted to represent a different season of the year. Customers of Super Cheap San Jose Car Rentals will find distinctive plantings throughout the park, as well as decorative features, bridges and benches. Several trips were even made to Japan in order to seek support and growing advice for certain plants. If youre looking to enhance your upcoming Super Cheap San Jose Car Rentals vacation with a dash of the exotic, the Shinzen Friendship Garden in Fresno is a great start.

Where friendship blossoms

The Shinzen Japanese Friendship Garden opened to the public in the spring of 1981. It was later dedicated with a contingent of forty visitors from Kochi present with the planting of a Japanese maple near the gardens entrance. Designed by landscape architect, Paul Saito, the Shinzen Japanese Friendship Garden features seven bridges (including a stone double-moon bridge for luck), a Koi Pond and paved pathways. Customers of Super Cheap San Jose Car Rentals will also find a beautiful teahouse at the center of the garden, along with covered viewing shelters. The garden itself is broken into four sections representing the four seasons of the year. Highlights in these areas include:

The Taira Ume Grove, the Camellia Garden & Lake, the Teahouse and the Eddie Ronguillo Meditation area in the Spring section.
The Double-Moon Bridge, the Bog Island Garden and the Waterfall inside the Summer area.
The Lake and Lanterns of the Autumn area.
The Bridges and Pond in the Winter section.

Take part in tradition: Events at the Shinzen Friendship Garden

The Shinzen Japanese Friendship Garden proudly hosts a number of annual events. Customers of Super Cheap San Jose Car Rentals are highly encouraged to participate in any one of these special programs as a part of their upcoming Fresno vacation. If youre planning to be in the Fresno area during the months of January and February, Super Cheap highly recommends stopping in at the annual Taira Ume Grove in Bloom celebration. Springtime travelers are encouraged to participate in the Spring Artist in the Garden Day. Other prominent programs inside the Shinzen Japanese Friendship Garden include the Shinzen Run, the Toro Nagashi (Floating Lantern) Ceremony and the Shinzen Cultural Faire. The beautiful Fall Color Festival is also worth visiting inside the Shinzen Garden during the month of November.

Visit Japan without ever leaving Fresno

Customers of Super Cheap San Jose Car Rentals can add a little eastern flavor to their upcoming vacation by visiting the Shinzen Japanese Friendship Garden. Garden hours run from 10am to dusk Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays. The garden is also open May 1st through September 30th daily from 5pm to dusk. Admission to the garden is just $3 for adults ages 15 to 55, and 50 cents for seniors and children. Customers of Super Cheap San Jose Car Rentals can arrange for special Docent-guided tours of the garden by calling the Fresno City Parks office at 1-559-621-2900.

The Shinzen Japanese Friendship Garden features more than 5-acres of exotic vegetation and symbolic eastern dcor. If you would like to learn more about the garden before embarking on your upcoming vacation, Super Cheap San Jose Car Rentals recommends visiting the official Shinzen Garden webpage at www.shinzenjapanesegarden.org. The Shinzen Japanese Friendship Garden is located within Woodward Park, adjacent to Freeway 41. If you have any questions concerning the garden, please feel free to email them to a garden expert at shinzengarden@yahoo.com.