Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden: free English audio guide

Shinjuku Gyoen is a 58.3-hectare garden where a feudal lord's estate became an experiment farm, an imperial garden and, in 1949, a park for everyone. Walk it with this free audio guide in your earphones: stories, history and things to look for at each stop.

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden audio guideFor earphones, as you walk (11 tracks)

PochikaYour guide around Tokyo

Sagi-senseiTemples, gardens and history

ChunOld town, shops and festivals

KasukeHidden spots and surprises

▶ Play from the startNext ▶▶

1. WelcomePochika
2. Where the name Shinjuku beganSagi-sensei
3. Red chili fieldsChun
4. The greenhouse and Japan's first strawberryChun
5. The Former Imperial Rest HouseKasuke
6. From farm to imperial gardenSagi-sensei
7. The formal garden and a bridge from MissouriKasuke
8. Cherry blossom partiesSagi-sensei
9. The Taiwan PavilionKasuke
10. Tamamo PondSagi-sensei
11. GoodbyePochika

Your first 3 audio guides are free.

Keeps playing with the screen off. It stops after each spot: when you arrive at the next one, tap “Next” or ▶▶ on your lock screen. Voices: Kokoro (open-source text-to-speech)

Visiting info

Checked on 2026-10-29 against the official pages. Hours can change; please check the official page before you go.

Transcript

1. Welcome (Pochika)

Welcome to Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, I'm Pochika! This garden is fifty-eight point three hectares, just a ten minute walk from Shinjuku Station. In one visit you can walk a Japanese garden, a French-style formal garden and an English-style landscape garden. Adults pay five hundred yen, and children fifteen and under are free. From October to mid March, the last entry is four in the afternoon, and the garden is closed on Mondays. We start at Shinjuku Gate. Each track stops at the end, so tap Next when you reach the next spot.

2. Where the name Shinjuku began (Sagi-sensei)

Hello, I'm Sagi-sensei. Our story begins in 1590. Naito Kiyonari, a retainer of Tokugawa Ieyasu, was given this land, and it became the Naito family estate. In 1654 the family returned part of it to the shogunate, and a post town grew up on the Koshu Kaido highway. It was called Naito-shinjuku, the new lodgings of the Naito. Yes, that is where the name Shinjuku comes from. Remember that when you pass through the busy station later.

3. Red chili fields (Chun)

Hi, I'm Chun! Before it was a garden, this land grew food. From the Kyoho era, which began in 1716, the eighth shogun Yoshimune encouraged vegetables here. Soba and a chili pepper called Naito togarashi became popular, and the fields are said to have turned red at harvest time. Naito togarashi is now one of the heirloom Edo Tokyo vegetables. The garden's Restaurant Yurinoki serves dishes using it. Hungry later? Now you know what to order.

4. The greenhouse and Japan's first strawberry (Chun)

Here is the greenhouse, with about one thousand kinds of plants on show. Fukuba Hayato, the man who turned this place into an imperial garden, was also a plant researcher. In 1902 he created the Fukuba strawberry, the first strawberry variety bred in Japan. The greenhouse still grows Fukuba strawberries, and they fruit from about January to April. From July to October, look for the tropical water lilies. At the east end, the foundations of the very first greenhouse, built in 1875, are still preserved.

5. The Former Imperial Rest House (Kasuke)

Hey, I'm Kasuke. See the Western-style house in front of the big Himalayan cedar? It was built in 1896 as a rest stop for the emperor and the imperial family when they came to see the greenhouse. It is a national Important Cultural Property. In the 1945 air raids almost everything here burned, but this house and the Taiwan Pavilion survived. Check if it is open, and peek inside.

6. From farm to imperial garden (Sagi-sensei)

In 1872 the government bought the Naito land and made it an experiment station for Western crops and livestock. In 1879 it became the Imperial Household's plant garden, growing vegetables and flowers for the imperial family. In 1900 Fukuba Hayato, in France for the Paris Exposition, asked Henri Martinet of the Versailles horticultural school to redesign it. It was completed in 1906 as the imperial garden Shinjuku Gyoen. Rest on the landscape garden lawns, and look along the main vista back toward Shinjuku Gate.

7. The formal garden and a bridge from Missouri (Kasuke)

Now the formal garden, with rows of about one hundred sixty plane trees and about five hundred rose bushes. From October the plane trees start to change colour. Here's some trivia. Somewhere in this garden is a bridge with concrete railings made to look like wood. It was shown at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair, then shipped here and assembled by an American engineer in 1905. And the tall metasequoias? Two seedlings arrived from the University of California in 1950. They turn colour around December.

8. Cherry blossom parties (Sagi-sensei)

From 1917 to 1938 the imperial cherry blossom viewing party was held here, and from 1952 the Prime Minister's cherry blossom party welcomed guests from around the world. Fukuba Hayato wrote that Ichiyo and Fugenzo were varieties to enjoy at those parties. Ichiyo is still the garden's signature double cherry, with about one hundred thirty trees blooming in early to mid April. In 1989 the funeral of Emperor Showa was also held in this garden.

9. The Taiwan Pavilion (Kasuke)

Over the Japanese garden pond stands the Kyu-Goryo-Tei, also called the Taiwan Pavilion. It was built in 1927 by Japanese residents of Taiwan to celebrate the wedding of the future Emperor Showa, in a southern Chinese style. It is a Tokyo-selected historic building. Stand inside and look out over the pond. Nearby, the Shouten-Tei teahouse serves matcha if you need a break.

10. Tamamo Pond (Sagi-sensei)

Our last stop is Tamamo Pond. In 1772 the Naito family completed their garden, Tamagawa-en, fed with water from the Tamagawa Aqueduct, and this pond still keeps its look. After the war, a 1947 cabinet decision made the garden a park for the people, and on May 21, 1949 it opened to everyone. It is now managed by the Ministry of the Environment. Take a last look at the water before you go.

11. Goodbye (Pochika)

Thanks for walking with us! Leave by Okido Gate for Shinjuku-gyoemmae Station. Outside the gate, a promenade follows the old Naito Shinjuku branch of the Tamagawa Aqueduct. Or go back toward Shinjuku-sanchome, five minutes from Shinjuku Gate, for department stores, dinner and, our suggestion, Shinjuku's alleyway bars. See you next time!

FAQ

Is the audio guide free?

Your first 3 audio guides are free, with no app and no sign-up. After that, a 7-day pass for ¥500 unlocks every guide. The scripts are always free to read.

Do I need a reservation?

Adults ¥500 (¥400 in groups of 30+), seniors 65+ and students 16+ ¥250, 15 and under free. Free for holders of a Japanese disability certificate plus one caregiver. Annual pass: adults ¥2,000, high school students ¥1,000

Where does the tour start?

At Shinjuku Gate, 10 min from Shinjuku Station (South Exit) or 5 min from Shinjuku-sanchome Station. The tracks follow the loop through the greenhouse, the Former Imperial Rest House, the landscape and formal gardens, the Japanese garden and Tamamo Pond, ending at Okido Gate. Each track stops at the end, so tap “Next” when you reach the next spot.

When is it closed?

Mondays (the next weekday if Monday is a holiday) and December 29 – January 3. Open every day during cherry blossom season (March 25 – April 24) and the Chrysanthemum Exhibition (November 1–15)

Sources

• Ministry of the Environment: Shinjuku Gyoen visitor information
• Ministry of the Environment: Shinjuku Gyoen garden rules
• Ministry of the Environment: Shinjuku Gyoen access
• National Gardens Association: Shinjuku Gyoen history table (Japanese)
• National Gardens Association: Shinjuku Gyoen hidden history (Japanese)
• Ministry of the Environment: Shinjuku Gyoen greenhouse
• MLIT Kanto Regional Bureau: Kyu-Goryo-Tei (Japanese)
• Ministry of the Environment: Shinjuku Gyoen gardens
• Ministry of the Environment: Shinjuku Gyoen facilities
• Japan Tourism Agency multilingual database: Shinjuku Gyoen cherry blossoms (Japanese)
• Shinjuku Gyoen: Access (Ministry of the Environment, official)
• JR East: Shinjuku Gyoen (Japanese)

This page in Japanese