Hama-rikyu Gardens

Hama-rikyu Gardens is a representative of a daimyo’s garden of the Edo period that includes a tidal pond (Shioiri-no-ike) and two duck hunting sites (Kamoba). Before the 1640s, the area was a falconry ground for the Tokugawa Shogun family, but during the time of Tokugawa Ienari, the 11th Shogun, the current garden was largely completed as is today. Originally, the garden was called “Hamagoten” in the Edo period, but during the Meiji Restoration it became a detached palace owned by the Imperial family, so the name was changed to “Hama-rikyu.” Hama-rikyu Gardens is a rare metropolitan cultural property garden with highly artistic or historical value in Japan for having been dually designated as a Special Place of Scenic Beauty and a Special Historic Site of Japan under the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties of the Country since November 1952.