The Japanese Garden has become a part of the landscape at the west end of Delaware Park. The design of the garden was conceived in 1970; construction started in 1971 and it was completed in 1974.

It originally represented a gentle, horticultural gesture of friendship between two sister cities, Buffalo and Kanazawa, Japan.

Located on six acres along Delaware Park's Mirror Lake, it originally began with over 1,000 plantings, nearly 20 globe-type lights, and three small islands connected to the mainland by bridges.

Delaware Park's Mirror Lake is immediately adjacent to the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society.