San Antonio is a city full of surprises, and one of the most unexpected is the Japanese Tea Garden – an elegant and tranquil corner of Brackenridge Park that was once a quarry. Here you'll find still lily ponds, graceful koi carp and trickling waterfalls, all part of a sunken garden that has been popular with San Antonians since its creation in 1919. What is more surprising is that this beautiful Garden was built with virtually no money – thanks to the drive and vision of Ray Lambert, the City Parks Commissioner.
When he found that he had received the gift of an old quarry to extend the Brackenridge Park, Lambert wasn't sure how best to make use of it. His inspirational idea was to turn the quarry's pits into ponds, and to build an ornamental garden – complete with islands, walkways and water features – on the derelict site. Local prison labour was used to shape the landscape, and residents donated lights and money to complete the Garden.
A pagoda was built, and in the 1920s, a local Japanese-American artist, Kimi Eizo Jingu, moved in with his family, to run a restaurant and tea pavilion in the park. That was a great success, and how the Garden came to get its name. Sadly, the family suffered persecution in the Second World War, after Pearl Harbour, and were evicted. For a while, it was a Chinese Garden, but once again became the Japanese Tea Gardens in the 1980s.
As well as serving you with teas and light lunches – and delightful walks around its sculpted oriental terraces – you can also be entertained here. Next to the Japanese Gardens is the Sunken Gardens’ open-air amphitheatre, which hosts all manner of musical and dramatic performances. Jazz bands, dance troupes, choral societies, rock groups and orchestras have all played here.
