Do you want a truly unique experience of peace and serenity? Boasting unrivaled timeless beauty, Japanese gardens will surely envelope your senses from the moment you’ll enter the garden gate, and make you feel as if you are in a ‘heavenly kingdom.’ Japan is truly blessed with a wide range of gardens but below are the three most beautiful ones, promising an experience of a special kind!
Kenrokuen Garden
The name ‘Kenrokuen’ literally means ‘six attributes garden,’ and is thought to be the garden that combines them all: spaciousness, seclusion, artificiality, abundant water-courses, antiquity and panoramas. Established in the 17th century by the feudal lords of Kaga, Kenrokuen Garden is officially one of the ‘three most beautiful landscape gardens’ in Japan that incorporates fancy designs in every corner, achieving peerless scenery at any time of the year. Ideally located in the heart of Kanazawa city, it is a favorite attraction of visitors and tourists alike, revealing a different experience each season.
Different gardening techniques have been used to create this spacious strolling-style landscape garden and 170 years to complete it. Walking along the circular path with large ponds, meandering streams, scenic hills, stunning villas and tea houses surrounded with old trees, you will discover a fascinating and enticing world of beauty, stepping away from reality.
The garden is open from 7am to 6pm March through October, while in the other months, it is open from 8am to 4:30pm. To get to Kenrokuen Garden is very easy, as frequently departing city buses provide access from Kanazawa Station to the garden in about 15 minutes. Feel free to roam and soak up all of its beauty, returning home with colorful unforgettable memories.
Kairakuen Garden
The name ‘Kairakuen’ means ‘a garden to enjoy with people’ or (a garden for everybody’s pleasure) and the garden truly deserves it. Situated on a hill in Mito, the capital of Ibaraki Prefecture, Kairakuen is also ranked among the three finest landscape gardens of Japan and has a history of 170 years. Covering 127,000 sq. meter (31.4 acre), this huge garden was created in the Edo period and is characterized by its magnificent design due to neighboring natural features, like forests and lakes, including Lake Senba which is a key feature of traditional gardens and is used as a pond.
The garden is where you’ll see the famous ume flowers, around 3,000 tress of over 100 species of ume trees in the spacious 13 hectare grounds that cover half of the site and other seasonal plants, such as rape blossoms and cosmos. Kairakuen also features cedar woods, a bamboo grove and much more. To enjoy the garden many tourists visit in the morning on a sunny day. You can get there from Tokyo’s Ueno station on the JR Joban line that will take over an hour. The garden is open all-year-round and is open to public.
Korakuen Garden
Korakuen is another outstanding circuit-style garden and is considered Okayama’s key attraction, also being one of the best 3 gardens in Japan. Constructed by order of Tsunamasa Ikeda (the second lord of Okayama Clan) between the 17th and 18th centuries, Korakuen is located to the north of Okayama Castle.
Special scenic spots in Korakuen include: Enyo-tei House – the most important structure in the garden which was burnt to the ground during the World War II but then restores; Kayo-no-ike Pond – famous for its white flowers of daimyo lotuses (known as ‘universe’); Yuishinzan Hill – where you can see plants like azaleas and rhododendrons and seasonal red and white flowers; Japanese Iris Garden and Yatsuhashi Bridge – known for its white and purple flowers blooming in early June; Chishio-no-mori Grove – with its maple trees that are especially beautiful in spring, when they are in bud.
Enjoy the four seasons in a breathtakingly beautiful Japanese garden where 300 years of history come alive!
Gardens of Japan are truly calm oases in the center of busy cities, offering visitors the unique chance to enjoy, relax and forget!