Red shoots were sprouting from the trunk of a tree in Kyu Shiba Rikyu Garden

On a fine afternoon, I decided to go for a walk and came to the Kyu Shiba Rikyu Garden right next to Hamamatsucho Station. The garden is a circular garden that originated from the daimyo garden built in the upper residence of Okubo Tadatomo, a retainer of the Edo Shogunate. It has a large pond and is a good place for a leisurely walk.

Even though it was a fine day for a leisurely walk along the pond, the Kyu Shiba Rikyu Garden was empty. There were so few people that I thought I could have the whole garden to myself. Of course, it is better to be empty than crowded, but when the place is so empty, it makes me worry. The park is now managed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, so I don't think it will go under.

I think one of the reasons why this garden is not popular among the several metropolitan parks is because it is not as good as the other parks. It does not have a vast lawn like Shinjuku Gyoen Park, nor does it have elegant Western-style buildings like the Kyu Furukawa Garden. The pond, which used to face the coast and was filled with seawater when the garden was created, is now freshwater, and now that land reclamation has progressed, the sea itself cannot be seen. Surrounded by buildings, the garden made me feel as if I were in a box garden.

In such a situation, I think it is the similarity of the name to the Hamarikyu Garden that makes it a no-brainer. The Hamarikyu Garden and the Kyu Shiba Rikyu Gardens. I'm sure many people confuse the two. The naming of the park is a bit similar to that of major parks, which must be the reason why it is not well known or branded.

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