Walking through Rikugien

I couldn't help but start my posts about Rikugien Garden with that glorious weeping sakura tree. However, there are many beautiful trees in the garden.

Rikugien garden is about 320 years old, which has given the trees there a lot of time to grow. Of course some have been replaced, but some trees are likely to date from the time the garden was created.

Built from 1695 to 1702, Rikugien was designed as an Edo period daimiyo's strolling garden. There was originally a home there, and various buildings and tea houses have been added over the years.

The name Rikugien comes from the name for Chinese poetry, which is also how Japanese Waka poetry is constructed. 

Riku is six in Chinese, and the poetry is divided into six catagories. The name Rikugi-en means the garden of six elements. 

In total, there are 88 scenic spots throughout the garden, that reference these poems, places in Japan and historical moments.

Like many Japanese strolling gardens, there is a large pond. It is a salt water pond that water flows to from Tokyo Bay. There is a sluice gate that is used to keep the water in the pond at the same level as the tide changes.

In the pond there is an island, Naka-no-shima.

Another scenic view is the Horai-jima, the arched rocks.

Walking clockwise from the main gate I reached the Taikimi Chaya teahouse, which means waterfall viewing. It is a lovely place to sit and rest.

Back in 1878 the founder of Mitsubishi, Iwasaki Yataro, bought the garden. It had been neglected, so he began to have it restored. The current garden is one third of the size of the original. 

I reached Fukiage-chaya, the only tea house that was open and selling food. Other places in the garden were closed because of the virus. One of the treats was "Cherry blossoms monaca". Monaka are crispy mochi waffers with azuki bean jam or other filling.

Unlike most of the garden, there were a lot of people here. So I bought a bag of monaka and just spent a little time admiring the sakura trees, but not sitting and eating.

These beautiful sakura trees and the garden were donated to Tokyo City in 1938.

A less crowded space was the walk along Zenkei no Nagare, a river in the garden that flows into the pond.

Along the way is the Tsutsuji Chaya. The location is a place to view the flowering azalea that cover the hill. It was a little early in the year so they weren't blooming yet.

In some ways, the river reminded me of a moat. 

It is a long walk along the river, and there is still more to see. So I will have one more post about Rikugien. Because it was worth visiting during the daytime.