A former imperial garden opened to the public in 1949, Shinjuku Gyoen is 58 hectares of lawn, ponds and 20,000 trees three minutes from the busiest station in the world. It is really three gardens in one: a French formal garden with a rose parterre, an English landscape garden of wide lawns, and a Japanese stroll garden with teahouses and the Taiwan Pavilion, a gift from Japanese residents of Taiwan to mark the wedding of Crown Prince Hirohito. In late March its 1,000 cherry trees, of 65 varieties, draw the biggest hanami crowds in the city.
Come on a weekday morning right at opening, enter by the Shinjuku Gate and walk clockwise to end at the Japanese garden when the light goes low. The chrysanthemum show in November and the plane-tree avenue in autumn are good reasons to come outside sakura season.
- Buy the 500-yen ticket at the machines by the Shinjuku Gate; the Sendagaya Gate is quieter
- No alcohol is allowed inside, and guards do check picnic bags during cherry blossom season
- The old greenhouse near the Okido Gate is included and almost empty on weekdays