Japanese Cultural Center

The Japanese Cultural Center, Tea House, and Gardens of Saginaw occupies three acres of the Tokushima-Saginaw Friendship Garden, a living expression of the sister-city relationship between Saginaw, Michigan and Tokushima, Japan that has welcomed visitors for over 50 years. At the heart of the property stands the Awa Saginaw An, a sukiya-style tea house constructed in 1985 by Japanese artisan carpenters using materials imported directly from Japan. Recognized as an architectural and cultural landmark, the tea house hosts traditional tea ceremony demonstrations representing a 500-year-old tradition alongside cultural programs and festivals that draw visitors from across the region. For private events, the center accommodates up to 50 guests for weddings, small ceremonies, and photo sessions amid traditional Japanese landscape elements — rock formations, a waterfall, a winding stream, a vermilion arch bridge, and rare Tokushima Blue Rocks along the shoreline of Lake Linton.