The garden's 3 acres contain sculptures and structures influenced by Buddhist and Shinto religious beliefs, as well as many elements of water and rocks to create a calming landscape designed to slow people down.

It was built by Australian born George Turner Marsh, who hired Japanese craftsmen to construct the site.

[2] He imported from Japan many plants, birds, and the now famous koi fish, and he more than tripled the size of the garden.

The lantern was commissioned in small donations by the children of Japan as a symbol of friendship toward future generations in the United States.

[6][7][8] In a description of the garden published in 1950, at a time when it was "dubbed the Oriental Tea Garden" the author, Katherine Wilson, states that "further along from the Wishing Bridge was the thatched teahouse, where for three generations the women of the Hagiwara family, in their gaily, flowered kimonos, served tea and rice cakes.

"[10] As it developed, the ceremony eventually earned the name Chanoyu, which, in literal translation means "hot water for tea."

Today, the heart of the tradition is the elegant making and pouring of whipped green tea, also called Matcha.

It, along with the Temple Gate, was built as a temporary indoor display for the Japanese section inside the Palace of Food Products at the 1915 Panama-Pacific Exposition.

A pagoda is a narrow building with a multi-tiered roof style that originates from the Buddhist religion in India and East Asia.

Due to local anti-Japanese sentiment during WWII which led to the relocation of Japanese Americans, the Shinto shine was demolished and the Buddhist pagoda replaced the open space.

[14] This placement of the pagoda is strange in a religious context because it was within an area bounded by the ‘mizugaki’, a traditional shinto picket fence.

Today a bronze plaque at the bridge "recognizes the dedication and expertise of Shinshichi Nakatani for his unique contribution to the City and to the charm of the Japanese Tea Garden.

[23] Today, the Monterey pine trees are among the more labor-intensive in the garden, according to previous landscape supervisor of Golden Gate Park, Ed Schuster.

Every three years, the pines are layered into zig-zagged planes, creating an artistic design favored in traditional Japanese landscapes.

These pines average sixty feet tall, so city arborists use ropes to climb to the tops and take great care pruning each tree.

[24][25][26] Water commonly plays a large role in Japanese gardens and serves to highlight purity and liveliness.

[27] In the native Japanese religion, ponds were created for sacred reasons as places for the gods to roam while the surrounding stones were utilized as seats.

[28] The auditory atmosphere of the Japanese Tea Garden is created through the blissful and peaceful sound of the moving water.

[31] Water has remained an integral representation of Japanese Gardens and its connection to the elite world of immortals.

They are generally thought of as the backbone of the arrangement of the space and as "dwelling places of gods, tokens of regal power, and symbols of longevity.

"[32] Rocks serve three main purposes in the garden, the first of which is mimicking larger natural formations such as mountains and bodies of water.

[35] In addition, Shinto is a fundamental principle in Japanese gardening where rocks have a decorative duty depending on their positions.

Japanese aesthetics have been largely influenced by the geographic location of Japan, with emphases on isolation and the importance of water.

[38] Miniaturization is the principle of evoking the entire of spirit of nature in a limited physical space (the Japanese Tea Garden of San Francisco is only 5 acres).

[38] The aesthetics of the garden are further influenced by the principle of concealment, which involves messages that come in pieces to ultimately reveal a larger picture.

This principle is shown in the garden through the winding pathways, stones of many different sizes, and abstract placements of objects.

The steep stairs are also a reference to the climb Buddha made to the top of Vulture Peak, his favorite place of meditation.