Shinjuku Gyoen

Today I went to Shinjuku to go to the Sakura House main office and pay my rent. I changed the last of my travellers' cheques in the currency exchange before I went.

From my guesthouse it only takes 16 minutes by train, with 10-15 minutes walk beforehand, to reach Shinjuku station. But being in the station doesn't mean you're "there" by any stretch of the imagination, it's so huge! I left by the first exit I came across, and wandered around until I saw something I recognised.

I took some photos as I went. They're not thrilling, but might be interesting if you've never been to Shinjuku.

The 2008 rainy season (梅雨 - tsuyu) officially started on Monday 2nd June, but today was lovely weather. It was 27C and sunny (but there were clouds in the sky). It was humid, but there was a refreshing cool breeze too, so it didn't matter.







I stumbled upon the bus stop where the Limousine Bus first dropped me off on my first day in Japan. I was having flashbacks to my first bemused impressions of Shinjuku when I arrived, dragging a huge heavy suitcase that insisted on knocking my shoes off.

Bringing New York to Tokyo.

After paying my penultimate rent payment at Sakura House, I walked back to the station, and then went to find Shinjuku Gyoen (新宿御苑), which is an Imperial Garden. It's only about 10 minutes from Shinjuku station's South-East exit, but I was on the other side, which is a long way away! So it took me a while to get there.

I could see where it was from a distance because the buildings suddenly gave way to treetops. Yay! Green!

It cost Y200 for me to go in, as an adult. Children are Y50, and babies are free.

I was very hungry, so I bought a box of mixed sandwiches for Y550. I had some Oreos in my bag too so it was a good combination. I was so pleased to see people sitting on grass here! I immediately flopped down and ate picnic-style. Most places have 'Keep off the grass' signs but people were walking freely here. The second time for me to walk on grass in Japan! Japanese grass is hard and spiky, it's not like British grass, which is soft and comfortable. Ah well, beggars can't be choosers. I was just glad to be able to sit on the grass in hot sun.

Shinjuku Gyoen is split into several sections, including greenhouses (which were being refurbished when I went), a French garden, an English garden, a Japanese landscaped garden, and crysthanthemum beds.

I did a circular walk from the Shinjuku gate, towards the French garden, then the English and Japanese gardens, finishing with the crysthanthemums.

The sun was very hot and it was lovely to stroll through all the greenery, finding little areas of shade along the way.

There was a nice lake near the Okido entrance, which I stopped to have a look around.

You can't see it very well, but in the centre of this photo, there's a turtle! I was so shocked to see a turtle wild in the very centre of Tokyo!

Makes it look very tropical I think. And it felt quite tropical.

Even though the city was so close, it was so quiet. This garden is a real sanctuary away from the rush. The loudest thing there was the mass of crows that seemed to follow me everywhere.

The French garden was surrounded by rows of trees, arranged in a very European style, I think.

Next on my list was the English garden, so I followed the lake (and the big birds) to it.

Well, not exactly an English garden, is it? I'll admit it looks like the park round the corner from my home in Birmingham, but garden is a bit far. It was great to lie down in it though, so that's exactly what I did. I put my jumper down on the ground and lay on it, reading one of the most British books ever, Pride and Prejudice, which I borrowed from my local library. I thought that someone going to study English at Uni should have read that book.

Tokyo Tower!
After a while of lazing in the hot afternoon sun, I made my way to the Japanese landscaped garden.

The nicest part of it was the traditional teahouse overlooking the lake and sloping hills.

After the Japanese garden, I walked back to the Shinjuku gate (I was quite tired by now, it's a huge park!), and I passed this cyprus tree root. How strange are they!?

Then I realised that I wanted to see the crysthanthemums too, so I dragged my tired legs back along the path. To find this! Nothing to see except greenhouses. Oh well... the cool walk through the shady forest was nice.

On the way back to the station, I passed these street performers. They had been there two hours earlier when I went to the park, but now there was much bigger crowd. The Japanese man sitting in front of them playing imaginary drums was loving it, and it was quite fun to watch them.

I went into Shinjuku station via the South-East entrance, and then realised that there was no way to get to the Toei Shinjuku line (都営新宿線) from there. I explained to the man on duty at the ticket window (in quite broken Japanese) what happened, and he took my Pasmo card, and worked some magic, before letting me through. Very easy.

I got home at 6pm, very ready for dinner, so I made myself a Chinese chicken stirfry, after helping one of my housemates, who is going home to Thailand in two weeks, with an English report.

This evening I will help two of my housemates with their English, and before I left for Shinjuku this morning, I helped one with her brother's resume. I really am the resident English teacher here!

I really recommend going to Shinjuku Gyoen if you have time and it's nice weather. I was so relaxed there, it was lovely. Nice to know that you can feel at peace in the busiest part of the largest city in the world.