Tokyo · Shinjuku
Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
The garden sits on the land of the Naito family's estate from the Edo period. After years as a government agricultural experiment farm it opened in 1906 as an imperial garden, designed by a French landscape architect, in three styles: traditional Japanese, English landscape and French formal. The imperial household hosted foreign guests in it.
Most of the buildings were destroyed in the bombings of 1945, and the garden opened to the public as a national garden in 1949. The greenhouse, rebuilt in 2012, displays more than 1,700 species of tropical plants, including an orchid collection. One of the buildings that survived is Kyu-Goryotei, a pavilion in southern Chinese style that was built in 1927 with donations from Japanese who lived in Taiwan, in honor of the wedding of Crown Prince Hirohito.
Three gates lead in: Shinjuku Gate and Okido Gate are close to Shinjuku-gyoenmae Station, and Sendagaya Gate is reached from Sendagaya Station. The garden is closed on Mondays, except in the sakura season (25 March to 24 April) and the autumn foliage season (1 to 15 November), when it is open every day.
Good to know
- Bags are checked at every gate, and alcohol may not be brought in. Sports equipment, bicycles, hard balls and musical instruments are also forbidden. You may bring food and have a picnic on the lawn, just without alcohol. Because of this the garden is much quieter and more family-oriented than Yoyogi Park.
- Sendagaya Gate is quieter than the main Shinjuku Gate, and good for anyone arriving from the direction of Sendagaya Station or the National Stadium.
What is nearby
Approximate walking minutes from the entrance of Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden.
- HereShinjuku Gyoen National Garden
- ~6 min
Genkai Shokudo Food
The lunch branch of Genkai, a long-established mizutaki restaurant in Shinjuku. The signature dish is oyakodon with chicken seared over charcoal, ¥1,800. Closed on Mondays.
- ~10 min
NEWoMan Shinjuku Food Hall Food
Food counters right next to the New South Exit of Shinjuku Station, open from the early morning hours until after midnight.
- ~10 min
Blue Bottle Coffee NEWoMan Cafe
A branch of the American chain inside the NEWoMan mall, near the New South Exit.
- ~11 min
Takashimaya Times Square Shopping
A large department store a minute from the New South Exit, with restaurant floors at the top.
More in Shinjuku
Appears in: Shinjuku: a free observatory, Gyoen garden, Omoide Yokocho and Golden Gai