Hama-rikyu Gardens

Hama-rikyu is one of the few large gardens in Tokyo that survives from the Edo period, and its setting is striking: a traditional landscape of ponds and pine trees at the mouth of the Sumida River, with the skyscrapers of Shiodome rising directly behind. In 1654 Matsudaira Tsunashige, a younger brother of the fourth shogun, filled in part of the shallows of Edo Bay and built a residence here. The site later passed to the Tokugawa shoguns and was largely completed under the eleventh shogun, Ienari. After the Meiji Restoration it became a detached imperial palace, and it was given to the city in 1945 and opened to the public in 1946.

The centrepiece is a tidal pond fed by seawater from the bay, so the water level rises and falls through the day, an unusual feature among Tokyo's gardens. Two duck-hunting sites from the shogunal era are preserved, with their hidden channels and observation blinds. The pines here have been carefully trained over many years, and there is seasonal colour throughout the year: plum blossom in late winter, cherry, azalea and peony in spring, irises and hydrangea in early summer, crape myrtle, cluster-amaryllis in autumn and red maples later in the year. The garden covers about 25 hectares.

Hama-rikyu is open from 9:00 to 17:00, with entry until 16:30, and is closed only from 29 December to 1 January. Admission is 300 yen for adults and 150 yen for those aged 65 and over, and primary-school children and younger enter free. The Nakajima-no-ochaya teahouse, reached by a long wooden bridge across the pond, is a lovely place to sit with a bowl of matcha and a sweet while looking over the water.

The garden suits couples, photographers and anyone looking for a quiet hour between sights. Allow an hour to an hour and a half for a full circuit. Paths are flat and gravelled, and there is plenty of shade from the old trees in summer.

For a memorable arrival, take the water bus down the Sumida River from Asakusa, which stops at the garden's own pier. Otherwise, Shiodome Station on the Toei Oedo Line and Yurikamome is about seven minutes' walk away, and Shimbashi Station is around ten minutes. The Tsukiji Outer Market and Ginza are both within walking distance.