Rikugien Garden, Tokyo, Japan Stock Photo

Rikugien 六義園 is often considered Tokyo`s most beautiful Japanese landscape garden alongside Koishikawa Korakuen. Built around 1700 for the 5th Tokugawa Shogun, Rikugien literally means `six poems garden` and reproduces in miniature 88 scenes from famous poems. The garden is a good example of an Edo Period strolling garden and features a large central pond surrounded by manmade hills and forested areas, all connected by a network of trails.Rikugien is quite spacious, and it takes about an hour to cover the garden`s entire network of walking paths at a leisurely speed. The trails wind around the gardens, through forests and open lawns, and lead to several teahouses which are open to the public. Fukiage Chaya teahouse along the pond`s northwestern shore is a nice place to take a rest and have some tea 510 yen.