The last time I tried to visit Rikugien garden, I was too late. They weren’t allowing anymore people to queue up. This time I arrived earlier, got off at Komagome Station and rushed towards the entrance. Luckily, the lines were still open.
But the line was long — both in front of me and behind meIn the mean time, I had a sakura tree across the road to look at
It took me nearly 20 minutes to get inside. There was an entry fee of 300 yen but I was happy to finally get in this time.
These are the dates for the special viewing of the famous ‘Weeping Sakura Tree’It was pitch dark with only a few lights illuminating a few treesI had my tripod with me
After a quick visit to the Tokyo Imperial Palace east garden, I was now going to visit Shinjuku Gyoen (gyoen = garden), which is one of the best venues in Tokyo to view cherry blossoms. I took the train to Shinjuku-gyoemmae station, took exit 2 and made my way to the Okido entrance — of many entrances to the garden.
The neighbourhood I was in was quite niceThere was an entry fee of ¥200 (₹119/$1.8/€1.5)There’s a glasshouse here. I would check it out later.Shinjuku Gyoen is the largest public garden in Tokyo cityThe reason why Shinjuku Gyoen is very popular for cherry blossoms is quite evident early onThe selfie sticks were out in full force todayIt was beautiful just walking around hereKids all over the place were seen picking up petalsShades of pink were a more common sightA panorama of the large ground here where many had set up picnic mats and were enjoying drinks and snacksIt’s a beautiful setting to have a picnic anywayApparently there were more varieties of cherry blossoms besides my knowledge of “pink sakura” and “white sakura”I decided to quickly check out the glasshouseThere is no separate entry fee for the glasshouseThe glasshouse was filled with a few exotic flowersAnd some plants which otherwise would not grow in Japan’s climateThe glasshouse isn’t very bigSo I made my way back outThere were more greenhouses outside but off-limits to visitorsColour-coordinated portable toilets. Or ‘sexist’ toilets according to some.Back to all the beautiful sakura all aroundThis sakura tree was very popular for photos, because it was quite lowI only had a brief few seconds to get a photo taken without anybody else in the frameYou’d think I would have taken enough photos of the sakura by nowBut wherever I walked, there was some frame or sight that just had to be captured on camera
Amateur and professional photographers were out in full force
It’s not just photographers who were making the most of the beauty all around
I could just sit here all day and take in the views… if only it wasn’t cold and all greyA little sunlight would have made the colours pop a bit moreI walked around a bit moreI imagined what it would be like, to be a bird or a butterfly, and see the cherry blossoms in a different lightEnjoy sights of spring little birdie!Many of these trees are decades oldYou don’t get much time, the full sakura bloom only lasts about a week or twoSo everybody makes the most of it and get their special photos taken
It was time to head back out to the concrete jungleWhat are these trees?There was an entire row of themI headed backEven on the way out I couldn’t help but take some more photos
Seriously — sakura sighting in Japan is like no other
Shinjuku Gyoen is undoubtedly one of the best places to come and soak in a rich cheer blossom sighting. I’m glad I got to experience it at full bloom, even if the sun was shy today. Paying 200 yen is well worth the price of admission. Ueno Park, where I returned to the next day, is also amazing so look forward to that post.
I went out the same gateFairly residential areaIt was well past lunchtime and I wondered where to eatThere was this corner store called Curry-Naan. I didn’t plan on having Indian food but the thought of having hot, familiar taste in this cold weather tempted me to go inside.The place was really small. Three tables and the rest were counter seats, where I sat down. One of the tables was occupied by a group of Malayalis. What are the odds!A single naan with a little chicken kheema curry and lassi for dessert cost ¥730 (₹435/$6.5/€5.8)
All said and done, my tummy felt satisfied and I waited for the drizzle to subside before I walked to the subway station. Next stop: Harajuku. Part two of four posts on this one day is complete!
I took the train Asakusa to Otemachi station. Took exit C13b and headed to the Tokyo Imperial Palace East garden. I could not do a tour of the Imperial Palace because that has to be booked in advance, so I just came to see the gardens.
It was a gloomy day, which is never good for photographing anything colourfulThis was nice. They closed the road for traffic and only opened it for cyclists. Must a regular Sunday affair in these parts.The sakura trees were in bloom even outside the palace groundsThere was no entry feeThe Imperial Palace has these ancient stonewalls made of large blocks of solid stoneIt was a bit of a walk to get the East GardensThere are other gardens in the castle complex, but the East Garden is the only one open to the public throughout the yearI really wished it was sunnierIt’s a vast area but not choc full of different varieties of plants and treesEveryone was here to see the sakura trees anywayThe cherry blossom flowers seem to mostly be in shades of pink…Or whiteTook this shot on my Sony Xperia Z1 phoneSadly today, even the skies were white. See if you can spot the sun.I walked up that observation pointBeyond these ancient walls lies modern TokyoI didn’t linger for long. I had to get to Shinjuku Gyoen after this, which is one of the best venues for sakura sightseeingPetals were falling down, so I wonder how long a full bloom lastsThere were more cherry blossom trees on the way outThe entire Imperial Palace complex is like an island surrounded by a stream of waterI walked around OtemachiOtemachi is a major office district and where many of Japan’s top newspaper publishers are basedI headed back to Otemachi station
From Otemachi station, it’s easy to get to Shinjuku Gyoen without transferring between stations. Shinjukugyoen-Mae station is the closest to the garden (fare was ¥200) and it’s on the Marunouchi Line. All the beautiful sakura sightings at Shinjuku Gyoen will be in a separate post — and trust me — it’s a really good one!
