Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

新宿御苑

Japanese, English and French gardens beside the skyscrapers; cherry and maple favourite

⚠ Closed Mon; no alcohol

Hours

1 Oct–14 Mar 9:00–16:30 (last entry 16:00); 15 Mar–30 Sep 9:00–18:00 (last entry 17:30; until 19:00 for part of summer). Closed Mondays (next weekday if a holiday) and 29 Dec–3 Jan — Ministry of the Environment

Tickets

Adults ¥500, over-65s and students (high school and up) ¥250, junior high and under free. IC transit cards accepted

Address

11 Naitomachi, Shinjuku-ku

Through the gates a wide lawn opens up, with the clock-tower-like NTT Docomo building poking above the trees. Follow the ponds and you pass in turn a Japanese garden, a French garden of neat plane-tree avenues, and a broad English landscape lawn. Anime fans stop at the pavilion from the film 'The Garden of Words', and the window seats at the Starbucks inside are always taken. Maples turn from late November, and in cherry season the crowds are big enough that the garden says it may bring in weekend reservations.