att.JAPAN

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A seven-minute walk to the south takes you to Rikugien Gardens. The head of the Kawagoe Clan, in the present-day Saitama Prefecture, Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu (1658-1714), was given this territory by the fifth Tokugawa Shogun, Tsunayoshi, and created this garden which took seven and a half years to comlete. The garden that was completed in 1702 is a typical example of the famous gardens of the Edo period (1603-1867). In the Meiji period (1868-1912), the garden became a second residence of Iawasaki Yataro, the founder of Mitsubishi, which was one of the three major zaibatsu (conglomerates) of early-modern Japan. Later, in 1938, the Iwasaki family donated the garden to the City of Tokyo. Rikugien is also known as "The garden of Japanese waka poetry" where you can find a typical strolling garden with a collection of 88 miniature Japanese scenic beauty spots as described in the ancient poetry anthologies, "A Collection of a Myriad Leaves" (Manyoshu) and "The Anthology of Now and Then" (Kokinwakashu). You can enjoy strolling around the pond and viewing the beautiful scenery.