A heron perched on a branch in the south pond beyond the man

When I hear the word "Gyoen," I think of Shinjuku Gyoen, but Shinjuku Gyoen is not the only garden that is called a Gyoen. There is also the Kyoto Gyoen in the Kyoto Imperial Palace, the Imperial East Gyoen in the area where the main citadel of Edo Castle used to stand, and other gardens such as Fukiage Gyoen and Akasaka Gyoen that are not open to the general public. As you can somewhat understand from the list of places where there are Gyoen, a Gyoen is a garden owned by the Imperial Family. Although you may not be aware of it when you visit, Shinjuku Gyoen is also a garden associated with the Imperial Family.

Meiji Jingu Shrine, which enshrines Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken, also has a garden called Jingu Gyoen that is associated with the Imperial Family. Although the garden is open to the general public, most visitors head for the shrine without paying attention to the garden. They may not even notice the entrance to the garden. The Gyoen is empty except when the irises are in bloom. It is a pleasant place to stroll around.

While most of the forests in Meiji Jingu Shrine are artificial forests created for the construction of the shrine, the Jingu Gyoen area has been a garden of the Kato and Ii families since the Edo period. After the area was placed under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of the Imperial Household during the Meiji period (1868-1912), Emperor Meiji had the area developed as a pleasure garden for Empress Shoken. Although the garden was once the garden of a daimyo's mansion, the atmosphere of the garden is quite different from that of other daimyo gardens in Tokyo. Although there is a pond called Nanchi, it is not designed to be walked around. There are no artificial hills. There are no islets or bridges. It is said that Empress Shoken enjoyed fishing in Nanchi.

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