An authentic Japanese tea house, in the middle of Saginaw

Tucked into Saginaw’s riverside parks is something you wouldn’t expect: a genuine Japanese garden and tea house, considered one of the most authentic in the country. It grew out of a long friendship between Saginaw and Tokushima, Japan, which became sister cities back in 1961 after a Tokushima student studying at Michigan State stayed with a Saginaw family.

The garden opened in 1971, with weeping cherry trees, stone lanterns, and a red arched bridge over a stream — even some special blue rocks shipped over from Japan. The tea house came later, in the mid-1980s, built by Japanese carpenters using traditional joinery and not a single nail. Saginaw even deeded half the land to the city of Tokushima, so the building sits on a little piece of Japan. They still hold a traditional tea ceremony once a month, and you can tour the garden the rest of the time. It’s on Ezra Rust Drive, by the lakes downtown.