About Shinjuku Gyoen
In 1590, Tokugawa Ieyasu granted the land to a feudal lord of the Naito family for his residence in Edo. Centuries later, the place became an imperial botanical garden and, in 1906, a garden of the imperial family, with Emperor Meiji at the opening. The public was only admitted from 1949. Today it covers 58 hectares in which a Japanese garden shares space with a formal French garden and English-style lawns.
In spring, about 1,500 cherry trees turn the lawns into Shinjuku's most crowded picnic spot. In autumn, the color changes on the leaves, and the garden is among the places recommended for viewing foliage in the city.
