Tokyo may be one of the biggest cities in the world, full of gleaming towers and urban sprawl, but it also has many glorious gardens.
And the best Japanese gardens are, without doubt, among the best gardens to be found anywhere in the world. They’re designed to reflect the natural landscape and the spirituality of the people, and are an art form all of their own.
We spent a day exploring a couple of excellent examples in the capital, but boy it was a sweltering day with temperatures well into the 80s. The heat hit us like a train when we emerged from our air-conditioned Hilton Hotel and the cool metro, which we took to the Hama-rikyu Onshi-teien garden on the waterfront to the south east. The train was, as ever, busy with the usual collection of commuters, school kids, pensioners and folk wearing their masks to avoid spreading germs, fixated on their phones.
The tranquil gardens are surrounded by tower blocks, a ghastly flyover, industry and waterways but I didn’t find it too difficult to ignore the urban landscape once we were within the grounds, which were once a duck-hunting and pleasure ground for the shoguns who ruled the land. With tidal lakes crossing the site, the gorgeous expanse of perfectly manicured garden is both beautiful and weirdly out of place in the heart of Tokyo. However, the staff were so friendly and helpful I wanted to hug them. And there were plenty of them.
We donned our electronic guides and set off for a trek around the ponds and waterways, along paths cut through lawns and woods. The commentary didn’t mean too much to us, quoting countless feudal lords I’d never heard of, but this visit was less about history and much more about natural beauty and exquisite design. Along the way we discovered restored duck-hunting grounds, charming tea houses with views over the lakes, superlatively pruned pine trees that looked like artworks and pink azaleas that made the whole city smell of marijuana. Sparrows fluttered and butterflies rode the breeze but we couldn’t avoid the sound of traffic thundering not too far away or the buzz of helicopters overhead. Still, it was a wonderful place to spend a few hours surrounded by nature, a real highlight of our stay.
We walked to the shopping district of Ginza and found relief from the steaming heat in an air-conditioned coffee shop. Before long, however, we were traipsing across vast expanses of tarmac and lawn in search of the gardens at the Imperial Palace, overheating again and seeking out the few bits of shade the route offered. I felt as if I was being roasted alive by the time we got to the palace, which is surrounded by a moat and imposing walls. The buildings were hidden behind trees and a tarpaulin-draped gatehouse, obviously in a state of restoration.
The gardens weren’t quite as impressive as Hama-rikyu Onshi-teien but the highlight was a beautiful iris garden with a delightful pond, countless streams, more pink azaleas and some fancy planting. However, it was very busy with coach-loads of tourists wielding selfie sticks and getting a good view proved challenging.
The rest of the grounds, punctuated by a number of massive fortifications and moats, were pleasant and very well tended but by that point I was feeling close to exhausted in the heat and needed a few rejuvenating beers back at hour hotel.
Admittedly I was feeling like Mr Grumpy when we went out to eat an hour or two later, challenged by the difficulty in finding places in such a cluttered city. We ended up in a restaurant at the top of the nearby Nomura building in Shinjuku. Fifty floors up, it offered impressive views of the city lit up at night. The moon shone brightly, we spotted a few stars, and red lights blinked repeatedly on the tallest of the buildings out to the horizon. However, the restaurant also offered a translated menu that left us none the wiser, such was the quality of the English, and that meant that our choices were based more on luck than judgement.
My mood may have been sagging but the food ended up being really good and the waiter couldn’t have been sweeter or cuter if he tried. Later we dragged ourselves back to the gay district and had a rather quieter evening at Dragon Men – minus the drunk Americans from the night before.