Tokyo Explorer

Tokyo’s parks and gardens provide much needed respite from the concrete of the city they lie within. Although the parks such as Yoyogi-koen are much bigger and well-known, the gardens themselves are well-worth a visit.

The two main types of Japanese garden are the dry landscape garden (Kare-sansui) and the stroll-through garden (Kaiyu-shiki).

The former is better known as the Zen garden and consists primarily of raked sand and rocks. As the Zen gardens are much more associated with the city of Kyoto in the Kansai region, it is the stroll-through gardens that you are most likely to come across in the capital.

The gardens are so named because stroll-through is exactly what the visitor is expected to do and, in very Japanese fashion, your walk and viewpoints have been prepared for you.

On entering, stone steps lead you though a landscape that is likely to consist of artificial hills, evergreen trees - especially manicured pines, a carp-filled pond and bridge, stone lanterns, flowering bushes such as hydrangea and rhododendron, as well as rocks, moss and bamboo used to varying degrees. A lot of these gardens also have a traditional tea house, strategically situated to allow impressive views.

Below is a list of five of the best gardens to visit in Tokyo.

1. Rikugien Garden.

JR/Tokyo Metro Namboku Line, Komagome Sta. Entrance fee – 300 yen.

This garden, created in 1702, is based on the theme of waka poetry and the winding path will lead you past view points inspired by scenes from these poems. There used to be 88 stone markers indicating view points, giving you some idea of the size of the place; there are 33 remaining.

Perhaps the best view of all is from the tallest hill, the 35–metre high Fujimi-yama. From here, you can look down on the large pond with its island, stone bridge, and semi-submerged rock formation. The name of the latter, ‘sleeping dragon rock,’ gives a clue as to the kind of images these objects are intended to evoke, although more than a little imagination is required to see what the designer had in mind. The park is impressive at any time of the year as each season offers something different: the hydrangeas are in bloom in early summer, cherry blossoms in early spring and the red maples in Autumn.

2. Kyu-Furukawa Garden.

Tokyo Metro Namboku Line, Nishigahara Sta. JR Komagome Sta. Entrance fee - 150 yen.

This Meiji period (1868-1912) house and garden is only 30 minutes walk away from Rikugien, so together the two make a fine day trip. The European style house in whose grounds the garden lies was designed by the British architect Josiah Condor (1852-1920). Condor had a great influence on Tokyo at this time and it was one of his students that designed the Tokyo station complex. Although described as a garden, gardens would be a better description, for there are two. On the slope that leads to the main entrance to the house, there is a Western-style rose garden, with a wide variety of different types neatly organised into columns. The roses look great when in full bloom in June, but it is also the time when Tokyo’s elderly population flocks here for rose viewing, and this can somewhat detract from the beauty of the place.
The Meiji period was a time when Japan opened its doors to the Western world and Kyu-Furukawa shows this marriage of East and West perfectly. Head down the slope and a small path will lead you to a kaiyu-shiki garden. It is much smaller than the one at Rikugien but offers a pleasant walk around a pond inhabited by ducks, turtles and carp the size of small sharks. There are also points strategically arranged to allow you a chance to see the impressive house in the background.

3. Hamarikyu Garden.

JR/Tokyo Metro Ginza Line, Toei Asakusa Line, Shinbashi Sta. Entrance fee – 300 yen.

Hamarikyu is located next to Tokyo bay and its tidal ponds use sea water. Originally, the site of a Shogun’s villa, then a duck hunting ground used by the Royal family, the garden is now best known for the contrast it provides to the skyscrapers of the Shiodome district that tower in the background. At ground level, you are in a Japan of the past, where the path meanders through a peony garden, across a carp filled pond and past miniature pine, plum and cherry blossom trees. Look up and the skyscrapers tell you that you are very much in the 21st century. One of the buildings that loom over the park, the Caretta Shiodome tower, has excellent free viewpoints on the top floor, as well as restaurants and bars that enable you to see over the park and beyond across Tokyo bay.  The park is also one of the river bus stops and from here you can catch a boat to Odaiba or Asakasa.

4. Koshikawa Korakuen Garden.

Tokyo Metro Tozai Line, Yurakucho Line, Namboku Line, Iidabashi Sta. Entrance fee - 300 yen.

This is the oldest of the Tokyo gardens, founded by one of the Tokugawa shoguns with the help of a Chinese scholar in the !7th century. Not surprisingly, there is a Chinese feel to Korakuen and the park tries to recreate miniature versions of famous views in China and Japan. The garden has a particularly impressive collection of cherry blossom trees and is one of the famous spots for the ‘hanami’ parties in Spring. A time when the number of pink cherry blossoms is almost
matched by the number of partygoers that gather under the trees to drink the day away.

The only problem with Korakuen is that a fairground was built next door and the occasional scream from the roller coaster riders doesn’t lend itself to that sense of calm that you feel the garden aims for.

5. Kyu-Iwasaki- tei Garden.

Tokyo Metro Chiyoda Line, Yushima Sta. Entrance fee - 300 yen.

The garden surrounds the former residence of the Iwasaki family, who formed the Mitsubishi company family, and it is another Josiah Condor designed house. This one has more of a colonial look about it, and it is the views of the house from the garden that are impressive rather the garden itself. As you look at the white-walled building, with its balconies and shuttered windows, surrounded by palm trees, you could be forgiven for thinking you were in Malaysia at the time of the British Empire. The garden itself is fairly simple, consisting mainly of a vast stretch of lawn, but there is a tea house that leads out onto a small Japanese garden. As Iwasaki garden is not classed as one of Tokyo’s major sightseeing spots, it is usually a peaceful place. The tables on the lawn with parasols attached also make it a great place to bring your own food and have a picnic.