Autumn in Rikugien Garden

This year I had planned to make the most of the beautiful autumn foliage in Japan but events conspired against me and I ended up making a last-minute dash back to the UK to deal with a visa issue. I arrived back in Tokyo at the tail end of the momijigari (紅葉狩) season and although the leaves were beginning to turn I made a short visit to a garden not far from where I live.

Rikugien Garden Pond

Rikugien Garden (六義園) is a public park a short walk from Komagome Station and is often considered one of Tokyo’s most beautiful Japanese landscape gardens. Built around 1700 for the 5th Tokugawa Shogun, Rikugien literally means “six poems garden” and reproduces in miniature 88 scenes from famous Waka poems.

Tree Shaping

The park is a good example of an Edo Period traditional garden and features a large central pond surrounded by man-made hills and forested areas, all connected by a network of trails which can be traversed in about an hour.

Shinsen Tei Tea House

There are also a number of tea houses along the pond’s shore from which patrons can relax and take in the view.

Red Canopy
Chidori-bashi

Chidori-bashi bridge.

Stepping Stones
One Small Step

Fallen maple leaves run passed the stepping-stones at Takimi-no-chaya, a tea house for watching the Sleeping Dragon rock half-submerged in the pond.

Maple Bank
Tsutsuji-chaya

Nestling under the maple trees Tsutsuji-no-chaya is a thatched wooden tea house built during the Meiji Period which survived the war.

Autumn Maples
Yamakage-bashi

Yamakage-bashi bridge.

Tsutsuji-chaya
Bug Catcher

Apparently, the tree wraps are supposed to catch unwanted bugs.

Mirror Image
Rikugien Garden Bridge

One of the most beautiful scenes can be found at Togetsukyo bridge which was named after a famous Waka poem about the view of the moon moving across the sky with the cry of a crane in a rice paddy heard nearby. It’s certainly evocative.

Toro Lantern
Rikugien Garden

To get a good view of the park you can climb the small Fujishiro-toge hill. The autumnal collage of colours at Rikugien Garden was pretty special and hopefully, I get a chance to see it a little earlier next year.

David avatar

6 responses

  1. Wendy Wai avatar
    Wendy Wai

    How Beautiful !!

  2. Steve avatar
    Steve

    Beautiful trees

  3. Beautiful colors on these pictures!

  4. Just one word : BEAUTIFUL !

    1. Thanks Sebastien 🙂

  5. Robert avatar
    Robert

    Great shots, David! I am considering switching over to mirorless from my 60D and the M43 family looks like a good choice.

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