Tokyo gardens & parks

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
The Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden was originally the home of the Naito family, before being opened as a garden and managed by the Imperial Household Agency of Japan. In recent times the park has come under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Environment. The garden has a circumference of around 3.5km and covers an overall area of almost 60 hectares.

Three distinctly different styles of design are melded together to form a charming example of a fusion garden, visitors will see Japanese, French and English influenced areas, containing over 20,000 trees and an incredible quantity of different species of flora and fauna. The greenhouse is an interesting feature of the garden, and contains a permanent display of sub-tropical and tropical plant life.

The traditional Japanese Tea Garden is a spending place to relax and enjoy the breathtaking beauty of this impressive park. The gardens are open seven days a week and the entrance fee is a reasonable 200 Yen for adults and 50 Yen for infants. 11 Naito-cho Shinjuku 160-0014 Japan, Telephone: 81-3-3350-0151

Koto Kiyosumi Teien
Dating back to the Edo era, the Kiyosumi Gardens are considered to be one of the most impressive gardens to be found in Tokyo . Originally the residence of the infamous businessman Kinokuniya Bunzaemon, it later passed on to Kuze-yamatonokami, who was a lord of the Sekijuka during the Kyoho period in the early 1700s.

Sometime in the late 1800s the land was acquired by Iwasaki Yataro, who was the founder of Mitsubishi, he reconstructed the garden and moved many huge rocks from all across Japan to help build a dramatic backdrop to the already rich plant life.

The garden features a large pond with three separate islands constructed within it, one of the islands houses a traditional Japanese tea house. The pond is stocked with carp and turtle which have become tame over the years, and now accept food willingly from the hands of visitors to the garden. 3-3-9 Kiyosumi Koto 135-0024 Japan, Telephone: 03-3641-5892