Who manages Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden?

The national garden is administered by the Ministry of the Environment.

Which structure survived wartime destruction on the grounds?

The Taiwan Pavilion remained intact when wartime air raids destroyed most of the garden.

Who planned the design of the landscape garden?

Landscape architect Henry Martinet redesigned the former botanical grounds into a landscape garden at the request of garden head Hayato Fukuba.

What was the property used for before becoming an imperial garden?

The grounds originally served as a residential estate for the Naito family before conversion into an agricultural experiment station and a botanical garden.

Which films and literary works are set in the garden?

The garden features in the novel The Sound of the Mountain by Yasunari Kawabata and serves as the backdrop for the anime film The Garden of Words.

Which imperial ceremony took place on the garden grounds?

The state funeral ceremonies for Emperor Hirohito were conducted in the garden prior to burial at the Musashi Imperial Graveyard.

Tokyo · Japan

Shinjuku Gyoen: what's nearby, how to get there and when to go · 2026

Residents along the Shinjuku and Shibuya border treat the perimeter grounds as their communal backyard, trading cramped apartment footprints for quiet walking circuits away from the rail terminals.

Shinjuku Gyo-en · CC BY-SA 4.0

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About the place

A former imperial retreat straddles the boundary between Shinjuku and Shibuya, preserving landscaped grounds amid surrounding transit hubs.

Tokugawa Ieyasu granted this ground to the Naito clan as a feudal estate before the site became an agricultural experiment station. French landscape architect Henry Martinet redesigned the property into an imperial botanical reserve, establishing the formal layout seen today. Wartime air raids destroyed most structures, though the Taiwan Pavilion survived before post-war rebuilding opened the perimeter to the general public.

Read on

The Ministry of the Environment manages the site alongside imperial gardens in Kyoto and central Tokyo. State funeral rites for Emperor Hirohito took place across these lawns, and the scenery features prominently in Yasunari Kawabata fiction as well as the animated film The Garden of Words. For long-term residents, the enclosed perimeter acts as a regulated buffer, preventing cut-through transit between Shinjuku and Shibuya.

Associations

The Garden of WordsAnime film setting featuring the landscaped grounds and park shelters.
Henry MartinetFrench landscape designer who created the formal botanical park layout.
Taiwan PavilionHistoric heritage building that survived wartime destruction on site.
Gated accessEnclosed perimeter fences prohibit thoroughfare walking across wards.

Facts

The grounds originally functioned as a private residence for the Naito clan during the feudal era.
French landscape architect Henry Martinet designed the garden layout following its imperial conversion.
The Taiwan Pavilion remained standing after wartime air raids burned most other park structures.
Administrative control rests with the Ministry of the Environment rather than municipal ward offices.
The grounds hosted state funeral ceremonies for Emperor Hirohito prior to his imperial burial.

Updated September 8, 2026Source: Wikipedia

Shinjuku Gyoen: what's nearby, how to get there and when to go · 2026

What is around10

A former imperial retreat straddles the boundary between Shinjuku and Shibuya, preserving landscaped grounds amid surrounding transit hubs.

Getting there and staying

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