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Why it is worth the detour
One of Tokyo's oldest daimyo gardens combines Japanese scenery with Chinese literary and landscape references favored by the Mito Tokugawa family.
What else is close by
The nearest places we have written up, with straight-line distance from here.
1.2 km
University of Tokyo Red Gate (Akamon)
The 1827 vermilion gate built by the Maeda lords to receive a shogun's daughter as a bride, now the symbol of Japan's top university.
1.3 km
Kudan Kaikan Terrace
The preserved façade belongs to the former Military Hall, which became martial-law headquarters during the February 26 Incident. Officers drafted the famous radio appeal urging enlisted rebels to return to their units here, and it was broadcast from the building on February 29, helping end the standoff.
1.3 km
Jimbocho Book Town
About 130 second-hand bookshops in one quarter, the largest concentration in the world, grown around the universities since the 1880s.
1.4 km
Nippon Budokan
Built for martial arts, Budokan became a contested symbol of rock’s arrival when the Beatles played five concerts here between June 30 and July 2, 1966. In 1978, Cheap Trick recorded the roaring performances that became Cheap Trick at Budokan, an album whose success helped turn the hall’s name into international shorthand for a career-defining Japanese concert.
1.4 km
Sanshiro Pond
This former daimyo-garden pond acquired its everyday name from Soseki's novel Sanshiro. In the book, the inexperienced student Sanshiro first encounters the mysterious Mineko here, and the fictional meeting became so famous that it displaced the pond's formal name in popular speech.
1.7 km
Holy Resurrection Cathedral
Completed in 1891 under Saint Nicholas of Japan, the Orthodox cathedral introduced a striking Byzantine dome to the Meiji capital.
Walk it with the stories
This address is one stop among many. Our routes and quests link them into a walk that makes sense on the ground.