Hamarikyu, Shogun's retreat in Tokyo, Japan

The Hamarikyū garden is a large strolling garden directly next to Tokyo bay. It was built by the shogun Tokugawa in the Edo period (1603-1868). The ponds are connected to the Tokyo bay so the water level of the ponds changed with the tide. Large parts of the garden were reed fields, and the southern garden was used by the Shogun's family for falconry and duck hunting.

With the Meiji R in 1868, the Tokugawa shogunate fell and the imperial family built a detached villa on the grounds of the garden. This is also where the garden's name comes from – Hama (浜) means “beach”, “seashore”; and rikyū (離宮) means “detached palace”. (庭園) is a word for “garden” or “park”.

The garden ponds interconnected by little streams. There is a tea house on the middle island (中島 – Nakashima) of pond, a plum grove (visit in late February to March), a 300-year-old pine tree and a field of wildflowers ( and rape flowers). It is a nice garden to take a long walk. Because the garden is large, you rarely meet other visitors.

A free audio guide in English is available at the ticket gates – it has several guided tours, but it also allows you to roam around freely and just gives you information when you come to an important part of the garden.

Contents:

Introduction

History

Buildings

Bridges

Mountains

Highlights

Flowers

Impressions

Around Hamarikyū garden

20 pages full of information about the Hamarikyū garden

38 pictures of the gardens

The eBook is delivered as PDF.