A Samurai’s Garden of Verses

Sunday, April 20, 2025

Tokyo has nine Metropolitan Cultural Heritage Gardens. They have survived the Great Kanto Earthquake, World War II, and urban encroachment. 

We chose to visit Rikugien Gardens because there are free guided tours in English today. Rikugien has been designated a Special Place of Scenic Beauty. As seniors, we paid only ¥150 (about US $1.04) for admission to the garden. What a deal!

We met our guide, Noriko, at the appointed time, and she did a fantastic job leading our small group around Rikugien. She pointed out the numerous varieties of azaleas: different sizes of blossoms, differences in petals, and of course, an array of gorgeous colors.

This beautiful landscape garden was built around 1700 for the fifth Tokugawa Shogun. The garden was acquired by the founder of Mitsubishi in 1878, and his family donated the garden to the City of Tokyo in 1938.

“Rikugien” means “six poems garden.” The garden is designed to portray 88 scenes from famous Waka poems, which are classic Japanese poems of 31 syllables. The “six poems” are the six types of Waka poems,

Noriko showed us some of these 88 scenes and the corresponding verses, which she had written out in beautiful calligraphy. She recited the verses for us from memory, almost chanting them, and explained what the old Japanese words meant. They were witty, terse, and pithy observations of the human condition or the natural world.

A bamboo grove, with new, dark-colored bamboo shoots emerging

A different type of bamboo in this grove

Camellias

Wisteria

The stone pillar (sekichu) marks one of the 88 beauty spots reflecting a scene in a Waka poem 

Tsutsuji-chaya (azalea tea-house) was built of azalea wood in the Meiji era (1868-1912). This is the original structure.

Fujishiro-toge: This is the view from the highest artificial hill in the garden, 35 meters. The soil removed to make the pond was used to make this hill.

Togetsukyo: The name of this bridge comes from a famous poem about the moon moving in the sky “as if crossing a bridge.”

This is the grave of a beloved falcon.

Following our delightful morning in the park, we chose a random sandwich shop for lunch. It was quick and very inexpensive. We chose some prepared sandwiches and climbed a narrow spiral staircase to a tiny pace with about five tables, one of them unoccupied. Some of the sandwiches in the refrigerated case were typically Japanese, but unusual by American standards.

Yakisoba with half an egg

Spaghetti sandwich

After lunch we took the subway to Nezu Shrine to see their azalea festival. It was a bit of a walk from the station and we knew we were in the right place when we encountered a barely-moving line more than two blocks long. Inside the shrine entrance it was crowded. It was jam-packed. It was not my thing. There were food booths, a parade of some sort, loud music, and vendors hawking all kinds of junky accoutrements that have tremendous appeal to children and can cause tantrums if denied. Sound familiar? Have you ever been to the Alaska State Fair? This was so not my thing. 

We could see a bit of the azaleas from outside the gates, and they did look beautiful, but we had already had a large dose of azaleas today, without the crowds. So we took a shortcut back via a closer subway station. Of course, it was not a shortcut, and we got a little lost.  My feet are so tired.

Today’s fabric is Japanese Wild Azalea Anime Manga Style - Tsutsuji Flower Festival - Medium Scale by kuriyamadesigns for Spoonflower.