Help Protect the Baby Koi at San Jose's Japanese Friendship Garden

You can help protect the Baby Koi by making a generous contribution to the Koi Fund now!

San Jose's Japanese Friendship Garden is still recovering from the 2017 floods that damaged the landscape, and the Tea House, and sent the beloved Koi into turmoil. Thankfully, most of the resident Koi were rescued and are being housed in one of the multiple ponds which they call home.

The work to restore all of the Koi Ponds continues slowly, just like restoration of the entire Japanese Friendship Garden. It was alarming to discover that the Baby Koi were subject to some predatory birds as they grow in their single pond.

Remedies include:

1. Installation of a portable filtration system, which San Jose Parks Foundation purchased a few years ago.
2. Construction of an Isolation Tank to house the Baby Koi until they are large enough to fend for themselves.
3. Rigorous maintenance of the Koi Ponds to keep all of the Koi healthy.
4. Periodic measurement of the entire system too assure long-term environmental sustainability of the entire Koi Population. Happy Koi enjoying life in their current home.

Your contribution will help – first of all – with taking care of the Baby Koi, which is currently a priority. The next priority is the Koi Pond itself, including all of the resident Koi. It is, after all, one comprehensive environment. The Team taking care of things now includes the City of San Jose Staff, who do an incredible job with limited resources. San Jose Parks Foundation provides additional resources by sponsoring The Friends of the Japanese Friendship Garden volunteers. These hearty few, launched by Girl Scout/now college student Aderyn Clark a few years ago, along with Susan Aoki and Kathy Sakamoto, meet regularly with City Staff to monitor and assess needs, cause funds, and organize volunteer clean-up and maintenance efforts.

A significant leader in this Team effort is District 7 Councilmember Maya Esparza, who has been able to fund restoration through her budget, which is making a huge difference for this beautiful park. Any funds raised above what is needed to take care of the Baby Koi will be used for the general Koi population, the Koi Ponds and related areas.

Here is a link to an article that appeared in the Mercury News on December 26, 2021.

Thank you!

To volunteer or become more involved, send an email to: volunteer@sanjoseparks.org