On Nov 4, 7:16*pm, wrote:
I am going to Tokyo on business, and shall arive fairly early on
Saturday, half blotto. *I should like to visit some gardens, but
wasn't very impressed by the Tokyo ones when I was last there
(with one exception). *I should also be interested to ride the
bullet train.
So, does anyone have any suggestion of good gardens to visit that
can be visited in c. 6 hours from Tokyo, without too much hassle
(which I won't be able to handle in that state)?
Regards,
Nick Maclaren.
Hello,
Sorry about the dud first post... I've lurked here for years and never
posted...
I worked in Tokyo/Yokohama for 3.5 years and have visited Nikko,
Kamakura and Kyoto.
My recommendations for you a
1. Nikko/Lake Chuzenji, but ONLY if you can stay overnight. I did it
once in one day by slow trains (3 changes) and it was a bit too much.
Nikko does have a botanical garden along with the trad stuff:
http://www.nikko-jp.org/english/shigai/plant.html - but I haven't been
to it.
2. Kamakura. Where are you staying in Tokyo? I always brought visitors
to Kamakura. It is always great (but don't expect a nice beach:-))
If you get off at Hase you can walk around a good few temples/shrines
with fab gardens. Do you have Fodor's Guide to Japan? Go to the
shrines marked with an asterisk!
By the way, this (Hase) is where the big-buddha dai-butsu is. (http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C5%8Dtoku-in)
If you click on the coordinates link on that wikipedia page, then go
for the Google-maps labelled-satellite link you get a good idea of it
from Hase station.
On the way home to Tokyo, you could stop off at Minato-Mirai 21
(Sakura-Gi-Cho = CherryBlossomTree-place station). Plenty of
restaurants where they are more used to english-speakers... some even
have english-language menus.
3. Imperial Palace (easy to remember: ask the Japanese for Kokyo (coke-
yo sounds good enough), but it closes early, can't remember... maybe 4
p.m. in winter???
If you can make it around lunchtime, you can join a free tour (apply
at
http://sankan.kunaicho.go.jp/english/)
I put the timetable for November at the end of this post.
As for Kyoto, people rave about the raked gravel stuff. For non-living
garden stuff, I personally prefer the beauty of a good stone wall in
the west of Ireland (and you don't have to keep raking it)
As for the bullet train, although you won't hit top speed, a trip from
Tokyo to Shin-Yokohama won't cost the earth and you might even see a
fleet of yakuza mercs lined up outside the station if it's evening-
time.
There is a medium-sized Bic-Camera electronics store beside the
station where you can easily waste time until your return shinkansen.
NB NB NB: BEFORE GETTING ON, MAKE SURE THE TRAIN STOPS AT SHIN-YOKO or
you will end up going a lot further!
Good luck.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE IMPERIAL PALACE IN TOKYO Openning time of the East Gardens of the
Imperial Palace
November Choose date of visit To next month
day week event time
[:Available, :Full]
note
01 Sat Closed for regular day off
02 Sun Closed for regular day off
03 Mon Culture day Closed for regular day off
04 Tue Application list closed The East Garden is Closed
05 Wed Application list closed the tour is closed for special
occasion
06 Thu Application list closed the afternoon tour is closed for
special occasion
07 Fri Application list closed the afternoon tour is closed for
special occasion/The East Garden is Closed
08 Sat Closed for regular day off
09 Sun Closed for regular day off
10 Mon 10:00 13:30 the morning tour is closed for special
occation/The East Garden is Closed
11 Tue 10:00 13:30
12 Wed 10:00 13:30
13 Thu 10:00 13:30 the afternoon tour is closed for special
occasion
14 Fri 10:00 13:30 the afternoon tour is closed for special
occasion/The East Garden is Closed
15 Sat Closed for regular day off
16 Sun Closed for regular day off
17 Mon 10:00 13:30 the afternoon tour is closed for special
occasion/The East Garden is Closed
18 Tue 10:00 13:30 the afternoon tour is closed for special
occasion
19 Wed 10:00 13:30
20 Thu 10:00 13:30
21 Fri 10:00 13:30 The East Garden is Closed
22 Sat Closed for regular day off
23 Sun Labor Thanksgiving Day Closed for regular day off
24 Mon Closed for regular day off
25 Tue 10:00 13:30 The East Garden is Closed
26 Wed 10:00 13:30
27 Thu 10:00 13:30
28 Fri 10:00 13:30 The East Garden is Closed
29 Sat Closed for regular day off
30 Sun Closed for regular day off
To next month