The Japanese Friendship Garden is a six-acre garden within Kelley Park in San Jose, dedicated in October 1965 and created in the spirit of Korakuen Garden in Okayama, one of San Jose’s sister cities. Defined by water, it features three ponds at different elevations linked by streams, forming a layered landscape. In 1966, koi from Okayama were placed in the ponds as a direct expression of that civic friendship. The garden later suffered serious losses when a fish virus killed 90 percent of the koi in 2009 and Coyote Creek flooded the site in 2017, damaging ponds, pumps, and the tea house.