Shinjuku Gyoen 🇯🇵

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden is a sprawling public park spanning 58.3 hectares across Tokyo’s Shinjuku and Shibuya districts. With a perimeter measuring 3.5 kilometers, this expansive green space serves as a major national landmark under the jurisdiction of Japan's Ministry of the Environment. The grounds are widely recognized for harmoniously combining three distinct landscape styles: a French Formal and an English Landscape design in the northern section, alongside a traditional Japanese garden situated in the southern portion.

The site originally served as a feudal lord's residence after shōgun Tokugawa Ieyasu granted the land to the Naitō family in 1590, with a garden completed on the property in 1772. Following the Meiji Restoration, the estate became an agricultural experimental station in 1872 before being designated as the Shinjuku Imperial Botanical Garden in 1879. The present layout was designed at the turn of the twentieth century by Hayato Fukuba and French landscape architect Henry Martinet, officially opening in May 1906 with Emperor Meiji in attendance. Although air raids heavily damaged most of the park in 1945—sparing only the Taiwan Pavilion—it was restored after World War II and reopened to the public in May 1949.

The garden contains more than 20,000 trees, creating a rich natural sanctuary in the heart of the city. Prominent species include soaring Himalayan cedars, cypresses, tulip trees, and plane trees, which were first planted in Japan within these grounds. Plant cultivation work has taken place here since the late nineteenth century, and a greenhouse built in the 1950s permanently exhibits over 1,700 tropical and subtropical species. Visitors exploring the grounds can also view a traditional Japanese tea house.

Shinjuku Gyoen is especially famous as a premier location for hanami, or cherry-blossom viewing. The park features roughly 1,500 cherry trees that bloom in succession from late March through late April, starting with Weeping Cherry trees, followed by Tokyo Cherry trees, and ending with Kanzan Cherry trees. During this season, large crowds gather throughout the park to enjoy the spring scenery.

Visitors can enter the park through the Shinjuku Gate, Okido Gate, or Sendagaya Gate. Opening at 9:00 AM, closing times vary by season between 16:00 and 18:30. The grounds are generally closed on Mondays, but remain open every day during peak cherry blossom weeks and the chrysanthemum viewing period in early November. Transit access is convenient via Shinjuku-gyoemmae Station on the Marunouchi Line, Sendagaya Station on the Chūō-Sōbu Line, and Shinjuku-sanchōme Station on the Fukutoshin Line.

Shinjuku Gyoen in pictures