We spent an hour at the Koishikawa Korakuen Garden, then made our way to the Rikugien Garden, a place that we’d originally included as our first stop in the Day 10 itinerary. According the guide, the Rikugien is a circuit-styled daimyo garden with artificial hills and a pond that reflects the taste of Waka poetry. The garden was designed in 1702 by the lord of the Kawagoe domain, Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu. It became a villa of the founder of Mitsubishi, Iwasaki Yataro in 1878 – and was in turn donated by the Iwasaki family to the City of Tokyo in 1938. The garden occupies an area of 87,809 sqm, and the admission fee was also 300 yen, with children entering for free.
Pictures!
Dentsuru stone bridge.There were significantly more visitors in this garden that the Koshikawa Korakuen, but fortunately, still no busloads of noisy tourists.This was at about 11AM sun, and the sunlight was creating all kinds of havoc with harsh shadows. But there were still plenty of opportunities to take some gloriously beautiful photos.Another framing shot.Looking for framing shots!Looking down at the garden from the Fujishirotoge viewpoint, the highest artificial hill in the garden at 35m.There was a small group of elderly Japanese holding onto notebooks and looking like they were making notes of various flora and scenery. Or perhaps they were getting inspired and penning Waka poems!Looking for reflections from across the pond.Strong contrast-y colors in the late morning sun.
My desire to see Japanese gardens this trip sated, we next headed towards Yanaka Ginza. Continued in the next post!
