Today my daughters each went out with their friends.
My oldest daughter went to お台場 (Odaiba, Tokyo) with her friends, my second daughter went to the 動物園 (zoo) with her friends, and my youngest went to 東京ディズニーランド (Tokyo Disneyland) with her friends.
So, my wife and I decided to go to 花見 (Cherry Blossom Viewing) together at 新宿御苑 (Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden).
新宿御苑 (Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden) is a very large, beautiful park with both Japanese and Western-style gardens right in the center of metropolitan Tokyo.
We had a nice picnic lunch in the gardens and went home before our daughters were due home and we all had dinner together.
Here are some of the photos we took today:
「東京体育館」 (Tokyo Metropolitan Gym) was used in '54 World Wrestling Championship and '64 Olympics
「新宿御苑の千駄ヶ谷門」 (Sendagaya Gate to Shinjuku-Gyoen)
桜 (Cherry Blossoms)
The skyscrapers of Shinjuku can be seen from the gardens.
ツバキ (Camellia)
There were many people enjoying 花見 (Cherry Blossom Viewing) today.
ボケ (Flowering Quince)
Japanese garden
(Click here if you want to see the official 新宿御苑の花見 (Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden‘s Cherry Blossom Viewing) page.)
My wife and I also stopped by 上野 (Ueno, Tokyo) to see the 桜 (Cherry Blossoms) there. It was very crowded there (as expected).
The crowd at Ueno.
Tokyo Five 
The New Sanno is beautiful, it’s my favorite place to stay, but it books up months in advance! Hardy Barracks is a bare bones kind of place, sort of like a college dorm, no frills, no ameneties, but the rooms are really big, it’s super cheap (I think $35/nt) and it’s a very convinient location! I love the Aoyama cemetary, I always take a walk there when we stay at HB, it’s directly across the street. I’m excited to see it w/ cherry blossoms blooming!
Thanks for the advice on Shinjuku Gyoen! We’ll definitely go with that plan, I want to squeeze in Nakameguro too. Hmmm, think I’ll need re-work our route now! LOL
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The Hardy Barracks cost US$35 / night? That’s about ¥3500.
Pretty cheap. Is it “per person”?
No meals are included though?
Have you ever stayed at a Japanese traditional Ryokan?
They usually cost about ¥5000 / night for one person…or about ¥8000 for two people.
But there are some Ryokan in Tokyo that cost only ¥3000 per person per night.
And they usually give you a Japanese breakfast. (Of course you have to sleep on a futon on the floor. No beds.)
Anyways, did you enjoy 花見 (Cherry Blossom Viewing) in Tokyo today?
Actually, my family and I went to a park near our house for Cherry Blossom Viewing today.
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Yasukuni Jinja and Chidorigafuchi are really in the same location and I would also recommend to visit for cherry blossom viewing.
But I think the best one is in Nakameguro. I’ll have to finish writing my blog posts about Sakura season soon – I’m not as fast as TokyoFive!
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Yes, Chidorigafuchi is very near the Shrine. (Close to the Nippon-Budokan).
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I’m excited about going to Shinjuku Gyoen for the first time, we’re planning to go on Wednesday, your pictures are beautiful! Tomorrow we’ll head to Hardy Barracks and get a room for the night, then take in the Aoyama Cemetary on Monday, as well as Sumida Park and hopefully a river cruise. We’ll see how much time we have left after that, maybe we can squeeze in Chidorigafuchi and Yasukuni!
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>your pictures are beautiful!
Thank you.
I know where the U.S. military’s hotels called New Sanno and Hardy Barracks are…but, I’ve never been inside (they’re for U.S. military only).
It’s not far from Aoyama Bochi.
So, on Monday you’re gonna go to Aoyama Bochi, and Sumida-koen?
I guess you’re gonna visit Sensoji Temple, too.
And you might go to Yasukuni Jinja too!
Busy day!
Do you know the Koishikawa Gardens are not too far from Yasukuni Jinja?
(It’s near the Tokyo Dome).
Actually, I’d recommend going to Yasukuni Jinja and Chidorigafuchi (and maybe even Koishikawa too) on the same day you go to Shinjuku-Gyoen, if you want to go to many places in one day.
Because those places are fairly close together.
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Hello and thank you for finding and commenting on my blog post today. I taught from 2001 to 2004 in Hamamatsu. They have a nice flower park there too, and the blossoms around the castle were always lovely.
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You were in Japan for three years?
Did you ever visit Tokyo?
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I really envy you guys down in Tokyo right now. Mind you, this feeling only lasts for a week.
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Just for a week?
Don’t you like Tokyo?
To me, it’s the best city in the world.
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hanami? Tanoshii Ne…
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Yes, hanami. And yes, it’s fun.
Do you know Japanese-style hanami?
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Hi Tokyo Five! Great! I’ll be going to Shinjuku Gyoen again tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed that the weather stays this marvellous.
Just a brief hint (and without wanting to appear too picky): The present building of the Tokyo Metropolitan Gym didn’t exist during the Toyko Olympics in 1964.
Cheers!
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Yes, I know.
The 東京体育館 (Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium) was used for both the 1954 World Wrestling Championships and the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo…and then was renovated in the early 1990’s (and looks totally different from the original design).
(I just thought that that would be too much to write in a photo caption 😉 ).
Anyways…are you going back to Shinjuku-gyoen tomorrow? For 花見 (Cherry Blossom Viewing)?
The weather forecast is for
nice weather againtomorrow. (Update: It’s forecast to rain. Sunday will be a nice day.)LikeLike