Hama Rikyu http://teien.tokyo-park.or.jp/en/index.html (浜離宮), is a large, attractive landscape garden in central Tokyo. Located alongside Tokyo Bay, Hama Rikyu features seawater ponds which change level with the tides, and a teahouse on an island where visitors can rest and enjoy the scenery. The traditionally styled garden stands in stark contrast to the skyscrapers of the adjacent Shiodome district.
Sitting on the Tokyo Bay waterfront in the shadow of the skyscrapers of Shiodome, this massive garden was once part of a shogun’s villa, with two ponds that were used for wild-duck hunting. It contains the only tidal pond in Tokyo, with a lock that controls seawater entering from Tokyo Bay.
In the middle of the tidal pond is an island with a restored teahouse; other highlights are a grove of plum trees, a 300-year-old pine tree, and two huge flower gardens. The peony garden has 800 plants and 60 different varieties of peonies.
Hama-Rikyu can be reached by boat from Asakusa, or by foot from Shiodome, Tsukiji-Shijo or Shimbashi stations.
These gardens belonged to the Tokugawa shogunate and served as a branch castle for Edo Castle during the Edo period. They feature a tidal pond and two duck hunting grounds. It is said that the gardens as they currently appear were completed during the era of Tokugawa Ienari, the 11th shogun. After the Meiji Restoration, they became a villa belonging to the Imperial household, and the name was changed to “Hama-rikyu.” The gardens were given to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in 1945, and they were opened to the public as “Hama-rikyu Onshi Park” in April of 1946.
Not allowed to sit on a blanket, not allowed to run or do jogging
The garden has served many purposes over the centuries. It was originally built as a feudal lord’s Tokyo residence and duck hunting grounds during the Edo Period (1603-1867), but later served as a strolling garden and as an imperial detached palace before eventually being opened to the public in its current form. Vestiges of these old roles are still visible throughout the garden including several reconstructed duck hunting blinds, and the remains of an old moat and reconstructed rock wall.