Getty ImagesA trip to Hama-rikyu Gardens is like taking a step back into Tokyo’s past (Credit: Getty Images)3. Best for vintage Tokyo atmosphere: Hama-rikyu Gardens
Set on the edge of Tokyo Bay near Shiodome’s glass towers, Hama-rikyu Gardens feels like a fragment of old Edo floating amid the modern skyline. Once a Tokugawa shogun’s villa, later an Imperial retreat, it opened to the public in 1946. “This garden breathes with the sea,” Masuno says. “Its pond rises and falls with the tide – the only one in Tokyo still linked to the bay.”
Across its 25 hectares, echoes of Edo remain: a long cypress bridge over the pond, two 18th-Century duck-hunting grounds once used for falconry, and a 300-year-old black pine near the gate.
“In the Edo period, shoguns would gaze at this pond while composing waka poetry, or set boats afloat to enjoy music,” Masuno says. “These gardens were social theatres: lords invited allies to stroll, drink sake and sit in tea rooms. Your taste and learning were on display, and people judged a lord by his garden – no expense could be spared.”
After strolling the grounds, pause at the teahouse, floating lightly over the water, and enjoy a bowl of matcha.
For an atmospheric autumn visit, come during the Moon-viewing programme (31 Oct-5 Nov 2025) when the garden stays open late with soft lights, performances and night tours.
Website: https://www.tokyo-park.or.jp/teien/en/hama-rikyu/
Address: 1-1, Hama Rikyu-teien, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0046
Tel: +81 3-3541-0200
AloJapan.com