Visit to Shinjuku Gyoen

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Shinjuku Gyoen



We met up with my mother and my aunt at South Exit of Shinjuku Station at 11 o’clock, and as planned, we went to Shinjuku Gyoen. Before I came over to Britain for marriage, I’d lived in Tokyo for 25 years and have come to Tokyo several times since I started living in the UK. However, I had not visited some of the sightseeing places including Shinjuku Gyoen.



I’d heard that Shinjuku Gyoen is one of Tokyo’s most popular parks. It wasn’t far from Shinjuku station. We each paid ¥500 for the admission fee. Having looked through the map, we understood that this park consists of three parts: Japanese traditional garden, landscape garden and formal garden. We started ambling through traditional Japanese garden. We followed the footpath and board walk along three large ponds and it allowed us to see beautiful azaleas, distinctive shaped lanterns, tea houses and the Kyu Goryo-tei, known as Taiwan Pavilion, which was built on the occasion of the wedding of the Showa Emperor. We took a number of photos while strolling through this lovely Japanese garden. Many pictures contained office buildings behind the trees – it is an oasis in the middle of the urban area.



Shinjuku Gyoen is a popular spot for cherry blossoms. Unfortunately, cherry blossom season was over at the end of April, but we could see pink carpets at the foot of cherry blossom trees.



After strolling through Japanese garden, we looked at the Avenue of Sycamore Trees and Rose Beds in the Formal Garden, walked through Tamamo Pond and looked at tropical and sub-tropical collections of plants and rare species in the greenhouse. Azaleas and rhododendrons were at their peak – red, pink, orange and white flowers decorated on a sea of green on a sunny day on 28^th April. There were a lot of colourful flowers on the flowerbeds. Landscape Garden consisted of lawns and trees like London’s parks. We saw many people sitting in the sun, resting and playing cards, etc.



After exploring the lovely garden for a couple of hours, we felt hungry. My mother took me to the Chinese Restaurant near Shinjuku Gyoen. My aunt treated us to a lovely lunch.

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Photos

Traditional Japanese Garden
This is a typical scene of Shinjuku Gyoen. It was once the Royal Garden - no wonder the garden looks wonderful.

Irises
Irises looked beautiful as well.