Portland Japanese Garden is thrilled to have been featured in several publications, radio broadcasts, and television reports throughout 2025. These stories highlighted the Garden’s everlasting beauty, world class programming, and the incredible staff, volunteers, members, and guests who bring it to life. To close out the year, we are proud to share our best media coverage of 2025 below.

National Coverage

In February, we were delighted to receive an endorsement by The New York Times for us as a family spring break destination.

Hugo Torii, Garden Curator and Director of the Japanese Garden Training Center, appeared on National Public Radio (NPR) to discuss the Garden being one of the top places outside of D.C. to see cherry blossoms every spring. His conversation was distributed across at least 90 different affiliate stations in the U.S.!

Homes & Gardens included thoughts from Torii alongside other well-respected practitioners on the best plants to place in a Japanese garden.

Torii was then again featured alongside other practitioners in Homes & Gardens, this time in article about the best trees for a Japanese garden.

HGTV declared Portland Japanese Garden as the most beautiful garden in Oregon.

HGTV also interviewed Torii, Garden Curator and Director of the Japanese Garden Training Center, alongside other experts about “Zen gardens.”

Carolyn Alter, one of the Garden’s trusted cultural partners, was interviewed by House Beautiful for an introduction to the world of ikebana.

House Beautiful named us as one the top ten botanical gardens to visit in the U.S., even though they themselves acknowledge we’re not technically a botanical garden.

Essence included us in their “Black Girl’s Guide to Travel to Portland,” saying we’re a tranquil place to visit.

Bon Appétit listed the Umami Café as one of the places around the nation it recommends getting tea from.

Wired included the Garden in their guide to Portland for business travelers, noting we are “widely regarded as the purest example of its form outside Japan—a serene space of cultivated wabi-sabi and serenity that was first dedicated 60 years ago.”

Hello! put us in their “Cool Girl Guide to Oregon,” sharing that here you can, “bask in the beauty of the serene retreat.”

AARP, an organization that has produces content seen by millions, named the Garden as one of seven places around the country to find a moment of Zen.

AAA published their recommended places in the Pacific Northwest to see fall colors and ranked the Garden number two, the only Portland location to make the list.

Later in the year AAA also included us a place they say folks should check out when spending 48 hours in Portland.

The Washington Post did a story on eight city parks in the U.S. worth visiting. Washington Park was included, and we were mentioned as a reason why it’s so great.

U.S. News & World Report included us as a highlight in the Portland section of their top 21 things to do in Oregon.

Pacific Horticulture published an article written by Will Lerner, Marketing and Communications Manager, about the distinction of Japanese gardens, as told by the experts who overseen our landscape here in Portland for the past 60+ years.

In their curated guide to Portland, My Modern Met notes how the city has the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan.

My Modern Met chatted with Will Lerner about the history and features of Portland Japanese Garden.

Yahoo! Creators contributor Kay Kingsman highlighted the Garden as place Portlanders doing staycations should visit.

Lonely Planet said we’re one of the “can’t-miss” attractions visitors to Portland need to swing through.

Sunset Magazine included us as a place where folks should go leaf peeping in the American West.

Forbes chatted with Salt & Straw co-founder Tyler Malek, who highlighted the Garden as one of his favorite places in Portland.

Islands named the Garden in the Portland section of their favorite places to see cherry blossoms in bloom across the U.S.

Newsweek highlighted the Garden as a good place to see cherry blossoms in their roundup of spots throughout the U.S.

Instinct, a gay men’s lifestyle publication, included us in their Portland article, noting, “Hours more could have been spent soaking in the beauty, simplicity, elegance, intricacies, sounds, and emotions seen and experienced while spiritually flowing through the Portland Japanese Garden.”

Koi Waters did a story on our koi and spoke to Torii, Garden Curator and Director of the Japanese Garden Training Center, and Lerner, Marketing and Communications Manager.

Local & Regional Coverage

The Oregonian

• Kelsey Cleveland, Cultural Programs Manager, and Yuki Wallen, Training Center Program Manager, were interviewed in a wonderful piece about O-Shogatsu, Japanese New Year.
• The Oregonian named our new exhibition, Earthen Elegance: The Ceramic Art of Bizen as one of its recommended events the week it opened.
• The Oregonian would, later in the month, also recommend attending our festival celebration of Hina Matsuri.
• In this lovely feature, they wrote how to learn the art of bonsai and included some history on the appreciation of it in Portland, including thoughts from our Trustee Emerita, Maggie Drake.
• As cherry blossom season approached, Oregon’s oldest and largest newspaper informed their readership about:
  • When the blossoms would likely start to show here.
  • How the Garden is a great place to welcome spring.
  • How beautiful the landscape was looking during their peak bloom.
• Behind the Shoji, our annual summer marketplace, is a favorite event here at the Garden and the Oregonian previewed it.
• Bon-Odori, a joyous summer festival at the Garden, was previewed in The Oregonian as well.
• When the paper looked ahead to fall programming the Portland area, they highlighted our upcoming Ikebana International show in their events guide.
• The Oregonian, in response to the false narratives about Portland, wrote a fun article about why it’s worth visiting the city right now. We were, of course, featured.
• It was exciting for the Garden we learned that we had been selected as one of the featured spots on a Portland-themed Monopoly board!

KGW-TV (Portland’s NBC affiliate)

• Megumi Kato, Sr. Director of Brand & Innovation, and Mayuko Sasanuma, Director of Cultural Programs, made an appearance on Hello, Rose City! to discuss O-Shogatsu and the return of our yukizuri winter decorations.
• KGW then came to the Garden the day of the festival and chatted with Kelsey Cleveland, Cultural Programs Manager about the event.
• In May, Portland’s NBC affiliate, came to cover our celebration of Kodomo no Hi, or Children’s Day.
• In summer, the station came to the Garden to report on our Summer Festival, Bon-Odori. They spoke with Sasanuma once again.
• KGW covered our special Tuesday hours, getting the message out to more people that they had even more opportunities to enjoy our fall landscape.

KOIN-TV (Portland’s CBS affiliate)

• When Rep. Mari Watanabe, also a Board Member for Portland Japanese Garden, made history by swearing in as the first Japanese American woman to join the Oregon legislature here at the Garden, KOIN covered the happy news.
• When we hit peak bloom of our cherry blossoms in the Garden, they immediately updated their readers.
• The CBS station visited our annual Tanabata celebration and spoke with Kelsey Cleveland, Cultural Programs Manager.
• Chief Meteorologist Josh Cozart visited the Garden on its first day of peak fall.

KATU-TV (Portland’s ABC affiliate)

• Mayuko Sasanuma, Director of Cultural Programs, was interviewed in this piece about O-Shogatsu.
• KATU also reported on Tanabata and spoke with Kelsey Cleveland, Cultural Programs Manager.
• The stationfeatured the Garden’s fall colors in a live TV segment.

PDX Parent

• We were noted as being one of the 10 ideas for spring break fun with kids.
• They followed that up with a more specific guide to cherry blossoms in Portland.
• PDX Parentalsoincluded us on their bucket list of 101 things to do with kids in Portland.
• The outlet additionally wrote a fantastic article explaining that the Garden is a great place to bring young kids.
• The Garden was chosen as one the top 5 reader favorites for family-friendly museums, the only garden to make their 2025 Welcome Guide.

City Cast Portland included a shoutout to the Umami Café in their roundup of recommended teahouses in the city.

Finger Lakes 1, a New York-based publication, recommended a visit here in their Portland travel guide.

In June, KPTV sent a reporter to cover Behind the Shoji.

NW Kids Magazine, as mentioned above, highlighted the Garden as a place to bring your newborns, writing we’re a calming experience for both parent and child.

Oregon ArtsWatch discussed the beauty of our landscape and the captivating contrast it had with our exhibition, Earthen Elegance.

Oregon Artswatch also covered our meaningful and memorable late May program, Lost Freedom featuring icon and IAB member George Takei.

Peak Northwest, a podcast produced by The Oregonian, recommended us as a place to bring your parents when they’re visiting Oregon.

Phoenix Magazine included the Garden in a piece where a local resident recommended places to see when folks make their way over here from Arizona. “The Garden is beautiful year-round.”

Portland Magazinenamed the Garden as a place where the fall colors are worth seeing.

Gabbi Thomas, a social media influencer who has gained a following through her solo camping trips to places like Mt. Kilimanjaro noted us as a favorite in her Portland Monthly interview.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote about places to travel in the Pacific Northwest, noting that the Garden “is one of the most unique immersions in nature and culture.”

International & Non-English Language Coverage

Yahoo Japan reported on the reciprocal exhibition Ritsurin Garden will be hosting about PJG thanks to the efforts of Japan Institute.

The Times of India, the largest selling English-language newspaper in the world, showed “The Tree” and named us in the Portland section of their top 10 places to visit in the U.S.

People en Español highlighted the Garden as part of their coverage of tourist locations throughout Portland.

El Diario Nueva York, a Spanish-language news site, called us a “botanical gem” in their roundup of their recent visit to Portland.

Het Financieele Dagblad, a Dutch newspaper, wrote about the joy of seeing our beloved maple tree in the Strolling Pond Garden, known simply as “The Tree.”

Vietnamese outlet Quång Nam recommended the Garden as one of the top 9 places to visit on the American West Coast.

Czech outlet Travel Digest recommended us as a top spring destination.

El Español, a Spanish newspaper, noted that one shouldn’t miss a visit to the Garden in their article covering sites to see in Oregon.

French website EnVols did a summary of different Kengo Kuma highlights around the world, listing us as a highlight.

German outlet Reisen Exclusiv said that the Garden transports you to Kyoto.

News India Times noted us as a “peacefully and meticulously designed escape” in their Portland writeup.

2025 in Review

Read more about all the many events, gatherings, updates, news, and coverage of Portland Japanese Garden that took place in 2025:

• 2025, Month by Month
• 2025, By the Numbers
• 2025, Original Writing

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