Did I mention that Rikugien has a lot of old trees? And some are sakura trees? They do.
Rikugien also has many amazing views. Because it was created that way.
Even though the water flowing through the river into the pond is salt-water, there are fish swimming there.
With the flowing waterways, there are a number of elegant bridges. This is Yamakage Bashi. The walk there is called Sasa-no-michi which means Cobweb Way.
The river is Zenkei no Nagare, Mountain Stream.
And hidden in the leaves are beautiful little tea houses, placed to give the best views of Rikugien.
It really did feel like walking along a mountain stream flowing through a forest. Very relaxing and calm feeling.
Up on Tsukiyama the view was gorgeous. You can see how spare crowds were, even before Tokyo shut the gardens. I hope they will reopen, perhaps just limiting the number of people who can go in. It was a welcome relief to visit here.
I tried out my iPhone's panoramic camera. I think it turned out okay.
Meanwhile back on lower ground, I headed towards Naka-no-Shima, the island in the pond.
Two large stones make up Togetsukyo bridge. The name comes from a Waka poem about viewing the moon moving across the sky. Yes it is the focal point of one of the 88 views.
There was a guard rushing people across the bridge, but I still had to take a photo of Daisensui pond with Naka-no-Shima in the middle, while I was crossing.
It is amazing the variety of views that can be found in Rikugien.
No question that they achieved creating 88 beautiful views.
Rikugien is definitely one of the best Japanese strolling gardens that I have visited. I'm glad I went during the day. It was a beautiful walk that uplifted my feelings during this time.
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