Koishikawa Botanical Gardens, Tokyo

The Koishikawa Botanical Gardens, spanning 40 acres (16 hectares), are maintained by the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Science. These gardens, one of Tokyo's oldest hanami spots, trace their origins back to 1684 when the 5th Tokugawa shogun, Tsunayoshi, established the Koishikawa Medicinal Herb Garden. Following the Meiji Restoration in 1877, they were incorporated into the university and played a pivotal role in the development of Japanese botanical research.

Today, the gardens primarily focus on research related to the evolution, phylogenetic systematics, and physiology of higher plants. The extensive plant collections here boast around 4,000 species, comprising 1,400 hardy woody species, 1,500 hardy herbaceous species, and 1,100 tropical and subtropical species. Notable outdoor displays include camellias, cherries, maples, Japanese primroses, bonsai trees, and alpine plants. A noteworthy aspect of the collection is the inclusion of wild-collected species from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and China.

Additionally, the gardens house a herbarium containing 1.4 million specimens and maintain a library stocked with 20,000 books and journals. One notable advantage of visiting this park is its serene and peaceful atmosphere, attributed to its identity as a research-oriented park, which requires an entry fee. The gardens are open to the public every day except for Mondays.