Miyazaki Japanese Garden
Miyazaki Japanese Garden is a attraction in Red Mill & General Booth, Virginia Beach, best for a quiet cultural stop, cherry blossom season, photographers.
Tucked inside 97-acre Red Wing Park, this traditional Japanese garden grew out of Virginia Beach's 1992 sister-city relationship with Miyazaki, Japan — a bond the city of Miyazaki marked with a gift of 100 cherry trees in 2005 and another 55 in 2010. Those trees now put on the garden's best show in a short window from late March into early April, but the garden works year-round: a torii gate marks the entrance, a red bridge crosses a stream, and the grounds include both a zen (dry) garden and planted beds developed jointly by Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation and the city's Council of Garden Clubs. Admission and parking are both free, a genuine rarity for a themed garden. Red Wing Park periodically closes individual features (courts, sections of the grounds) for renovation, so it's worth checking the park's current status before a special trip.
- Free
- Free Parking
- Quiet & Peaceful
Amenities
- Torii entrance gate
- Red bridge over a stream
- Zen (dry) garden
- Cherry trees (best bloom late March-early April)
Know Before You Go
- Best for: a quiet cultural stop, cherry blossom season, photographers
- Parking: Free on-site parking inside Red Wing Park off General Booth Boulevard.
- Accessibility: Outdoor garden paths within Red Wing Park; contact (757) 437-2038 for current accessibility and construction-status details.
- Dogs: not allowed
- Location: Inside Red Wing Park, 1398 General Booth Blvd, Virginia Beach, VA 23451, Virginia Beach, VA
Last verified 2026-07-18.
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While You're in the Area
Angelo's Italian Restaurant
Family-run mom-and-pop Italian kitchen on General Booth Boulevard — handmade pizzas, calzones, garlic knots, and baked ziti for the southern beaches.
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Female-owned General Booth-corridor distillery pouring corn-based vodka and the Butterfly Lemon Spritz, with distillery tours and infusion workshops.
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Chef-owned, 60-seat seafood dining room in Red Mill Commons focused on locally sourced catch, dinner only, no reservations.
El Azteca Mexican Restaurant
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Family-owned Mexican bar and grill on Landstown Centre Way near Red Mill, known for its margarita selection and affordable classics.
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Jake's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que
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Upcoming Events Nearby
Cherry Blossom Festival
March 26, 2027 – March 28, 2027 · annual
Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation's spring showcase fills Red Wing Park's cherry tree grove with live cultural performances, martial arts demonstrations, and hands-on crafts timed to peak bloom in late March. The 2026 edition added a first-ever Nighttime Hanami, lighting the blossoms after dark on opening evening before the daytime festival took over the weekend. Admission and parking are free, with an overflow grass field opening for weekend crowds -- a genuinely photogenic, low-key alternative to the Oceanfront festival circuit, along General Booth Boulevard.
Sandbridge Pig Pickin'
September 12, 2026 · annual
The Sandbridge Volunteer Rescue Squad's all-you-can-eat pig roast at Little Island Park has been the neighborhood's signature fundraiser for more than four decades, paying for the advanced life-saving equipment behind the squad's 1,000-plus annual emergency calls. Barbecue, beer and wine, live music, local art vendors, and a bounce house for kids fill the park for an afternoon, with free admission for children under 10. It's Sandbridge at its most neighborly -- a beach-community fundraiser rather than a tourist draw, held at the same park that anchors the south end of the beach.
Virginia Beach Restaurant Week
January 15, 2027 – January 24, 2027 · annual
The Virginia Beach Restaurant Association's flagship dining event fills each January with prix-fixe menus at roughly five dozen restaurants citywide, from Laskin Road institutions to Oceanfront hotel dining rooms. The 2026 edition ran the theme 'Tastes & Traditions, A Culinary Celebration by Land and by Sea,' spotlighting Chesapeake staples like crab, oysters, ham, and peanuts alongside modern reinterpretations. A companion Dine & Stay program bundles discounted rates at more than a dozen partner hotels, making it as much a slow-season visitor draw as a locals' night out. The VBRA runs the event out of its Laskin Road office in Hilltop, the city's densest cluster of independent kitchens.