Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
a perfectionist and a literary scholar: he took seven years to design his celebrated garden
- with its 88 allusions to famous scenes, real or imaginary, from ancient Japanese poetry
- and then named it Rikugi-en, “garden of the six principles of poetry”, in reference to the
rules for composing
waka
(poems of 31 syllables). After Yanagisawa's death, Rikugi-en fell
into disrepair until Iwasaki Yatarō, founder of Mitsubishi, bought the land in 1877 and
restored it as part of his luxury villa. The family donated the garden to the Tokyo city
authorities in 1938, since when it has been a public park.
Unsurprisingly, few of the 88 landscapes have survived - the guide map issued at the
entrance identifies a mere eighteen. Nevertheless, Rikugi-en still retains its rhythm and
beauty, and is large enough to be relatively undisturbed by surrounding buildings and
tra
c noise.
Kyū Furukawa Gardens
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, Kyū Furukawa Teien • 1-27-39 Nishigahara, Kita-ku • Daily 9am-5pm • ¥150; tea ¥500 • Entrance 5min uphill on Hongō-dōri
from Komagome station
Designed by Ogawa Jihei, a famed gardener from Kyoto, the
Kyū Furukawa Gardens
combine delightful Japanese-style grounds with an Italian-style terrace of rose beds and
artfully shaped azalea bushes. The gardens cascade down the hill from the mansion
designed in 1914 by British architect Josiah Conder (see box, p.58), who was also
responsible for the similar Kyū Iwasaki-tei house and gardens in Ueno (see p.64). It's
possible to take tea and cake in the mansion and to go on a tour of the empty (and frankly
boring) rooms, but it's much more enjoyable to sample
matcha
and traditional Japanese
sweets in the teahouse in the Japanese part of the garden. The best times to visit are in late
April, when the azaleas bloom, and in mid-May, when the roses are out in full force.
12
Jizō-dōri
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• Sugamo station
There's a weird little shopping area just west of Komagome in
Sugamo
(
י
). On the
north side of the JR station, this street,
Jizō-dōri
, branches left off the main road,
marked by an arch with orange characters. The street is nicknamed
obāchan no Harajuku
or “old ladies' Harajuku”, an ironic reference to Tokyo's epicentre of young fashion.
Jizō-dōri is, of course, anything but fashionable: shops here sell floral aprons, sensible
shoes, long johns and shopping trolleys, interspersed with speciality food, household
products and traditional and Western medicines. Jizō-dōri continues north as far as
Kōshinzuka station, less than ten minutes' walk from the Kōgan-ji temple (
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),
where you can pick up a tram (streetcar) on the Toden Arakawa Line (see box, p.131).
Suidōbashi
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Some way southeast of Ikebukuro, on the way back towards the Imperial Palace, the
district of Suidōbashi has a couple of minor attractions including an upmarket spa
complex (see box, p.201), amusement park and a classic seventeenth-century garden, all
revolving around
Tokyo Dome City
, one of the city's most important sports complexes.
Here, thrill rides punctuate the skyline, though its centrepiece is the plump, white-roofed
Tokyo Dome
(
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), Tokyo's major baseball venue, popularly known as the “Big Egg”.
Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
Gate 21, Tokyo Dome • Tues-Sun: March-Sept 10am-6pm; Oct-Feb 10am-5pm • ¥500 •
T
03 3811 3600,
W
baseball-museum.or.jp •
Suidōbashi or Korakuen stations; entrance by gate 21 of the stadium
Tokyo Dome is most famed for being the home of the Yomiuri Giants baseball team
(see p.200). Also on site is the
Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
, which is really for
die-hard fans only; as well as footage of early games, there's all sorts of baseball
memorabilia here, including one of Babe Ruth's jackets.
