Hama Rikyu Gardens: Tokyo's Tidal Garden

In 1654, Matsudaira Tsunashige, younger brother of the fourth Tokugawa Shogun, Ietsuna, and lord of Kofu Domain, got permission to reclaim tidal shallows from Edo Bay. On the new land, at the mouth of the Sumida River where it ran into the bay, he built a villa called Kofu Hama-yashiki, the Kofu Beach Pavilion.

When Tsunashige's son became the sixth Tokugawa Shogun, Tokugawa Ienobu, the property passed directly to the shogunate and was renamed Hama Goten, the Beach Palace. Each shogun after him added to it. The main palace burned in 1724 and was never rebuilt. By the time of the eleventh Shogun, Tokugawa Ienari, who ruled for nearly five decades from 1787 to 1837 (the longest reign of any Tokugawa shogun), the garden looked roughly the way it does today.

It was a hunting ground, with two kamoba (duck-hunting sites) set around the tidal pond. Shoguns flew falcons here, and the Taka-no-Ochaya, the Falcon Teahouse, still stands in the northeast corner. In 1729 a Vietnamese elephant, a diplomatic gift to the shogunate, lived on the grounds for twelve years. In 1867 the shogunate put up a Western-style stone building here for receiving foreign diplomats in Edo.

After the Meiji Restoration, Emperor Meiji declared it the Hama Detached Palace and used it as a state guest house. Ulysses S. Grant stayed for a month in 1879 on his world tour. The garden burned in the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake and again in the March 1945 air raids on Tokyo. In November 1945 the Imperial Household Agency handed it to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. It opened to the public in April 1946 and got its two Special designations in 1952.

The Shioiri-no-Ike is the main reason to come, so give it more than a glance. It's the last Edo-period tidal pond left in Tokyo, and the only garden pond in the city that still takes seawater straight from Tokyo Bay.

The system is simple and very old. Sluice gates connect the pond to the bay and open and close to control the flow. When the tide comes in, seawater pushes through the gates and the pond rises, and when it goes out, the gates let the water drain back. The cycle turns over roughly every six hours with the bay's tides. If you want to arrive at high tide, when the water is at its highest and the reflections are sharpest, look up the Tokyo Bay tide times before you go (search: 東京湾 満潮).

The system has been running, in better and worse repair, since the garden was founded in the 17th century, so the water here has always moved with the bay outside the walls. Saltwater fish and shorebirds come through the pond at different points in the cycle, and in spring and summer you'll see ducks, egrets, and herons working the shallows. The salt also keeps the water clearer than the freshwater ponds in Tokyo's other parks.

The pond is big enough that each shore gives you a different view. From the eastern side you get the pines, the Nakajima Teahouse island, and the Shiodome towers behind. The western side opens toward the seawater moat and the open water. A slow lap of the whole pond takes about 20 minutes.

The black pine at the edge of the tidal pond is the most photographed thing in the garden. It's usually described as about 300 years old, which puts it somewhere in the late 17th to early 18th century, when the early Tokugawa shoguns were building the garden out. Whatever its exact age, generations of gardeners have trained it over three centuries until it grows almost flat, with its longest branches reaching out over the water.

Japanese black pine (kuromatsu) is the main tree at Hama Rikyu, and coastal gardens favor it because it tolerates salt. That flat, sideways form comes from niwashi pruning by hand every year since the Edo period.

The pine looks best in autumn, when the pond reflects the maples around it and the dark green of the old pines holds its own against the orange and gold. After snow in winter, the branches hold the snow in a way that makes for the garden's best photographs.

The garden has four ochaya, tea pavilions used by the shoguns and the imperial court. Most visitors only see Nakajima-no-Ochaya. It was first built in 1704 on a small island in the middle of the tidal pond, last rebuilt in 1983, and you reach it over two short wooden bridges. Matcha with a Japanese sweet costs ¥800–1,000. You sit on the outer deck with water on three sides, pines overhead, and the Shiodome towers showing above the trees, and it's one of the nicer places for tea in central Tokyo.

Taka-no-Ochaya, the Falcon Teahouse, is in the northeast section. It's the garden's only thatched-roof building, made of Japanese cedar, with a small closed room at the back where the shoguns kept their falcons between hunts. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government spent ¥230 million restoring it, finishing around 2019. You can look at it from outside, but it doesn't serve tea. Matsu-no-Ochaya (rebuilt 2010) and Tsubame-no-Ochaya (rebuilt 2015) make up the four, and the shoguns used them for ikebana, waka poetry, and private meals.

Something is in flower most of the year. Plum blossoms come in late February. Cherry blossoms peak from late March to early April, and the garden is calmer than Ueno or Shinjuku Gyoen during peak week, with the pond reflecting the trees. Canola (nanohana) turns the open fields yellow from late February through late March, bright against the grey-green water and the old pines.

Cosmos flower from late September through October, with big fields of pink and white across the open parts of the garden. The autumn leaves peak from late November through early December, when the maples, ginkgo, and Japanese red maples turn around the old pines, and the tidal pond in that light with the Shiodome towers behind is the garden at its most photogenic. Cluster amaryllis (higanbana) flowers deep red along the edges of the garden in late September. It's easy to miss, so look for it if you're here around the equinox.

By foot: Shiodome Station (Toei Oedo Line, Yurikamome) is 7 minutes south. Shimbashi Station (JR Yamanote, Toei Asakusa, Tokyo Metro Ginza) is 10–12 minutes. From Tsukijishijo Station (Toei Oedo) it's 10 minutes to the eastern gate.

By water bus from Asakusa (recommended): Tokyo Cruise runs from Asakusa Pier (Azuma Bridge) straight to the pier inside the garden, 35 minutes down the Sumida River and out into Tokyo Bay. The fare is ¥1,180 one way, garden admission included. Boats from Asakusa to Hama Rikyu leave at 11:40 and 14:20 as of 2026. Check suijobus.co.jp before visiting, as the schedule changes seasonally. Note that the boat only drops off at Hama Rikyu, and you can't board at the garden pier to go back. Leave on foot toward Shiodome, or walk on to Tsukiji, 10 minutes east.

We think the boat is the better way in. You come from the bay side, the way the shogunate did, and the tidal pond opens up on your left as you dock.

Children of primary school age and younger get in free, as do junior high school students who live or study in Tokyo.

Seeing the whole garden properly takes 60–90 minutes, including a matcha stop at the Nakajima teahouse. It works best as one stop in a longer day around the bay.

The water bus day: Spend the morning in Asakusa, then catch the 11:40 water bus from Asakusa pier. You reach the garden around noon, walk the grounds, and have tea on the island. Leave toward Shiodome and carry on into Ginza for the afternoon. It links two of Tokyo's oldest districts, with one of the city's best rides in between.

The bay and market day: Be at Hama Rikyu when it opens at 9:00, then walk 10 minutes east to Tsukiji Outer Market for a late breakfast or early lunch. Ginza is another 10–15 minutes on, and the three follow on from each other with no transit at all.

If you'd like a guided day in this part of the city, covering the shogunal gardens, the history of the bay, and how the districts connect, Tokyo Essentials gives the garden the background it needs. Infinite Tokyo can build a custom day around the water bus route or the bay area.

What makes Hama Rikyu different from other Tokyo gardens? The tidal pond. It's the last Edo-period garden in Tokyo where seawater from Tokyo Bay flows in and out through sluice gates, so the water level rises and falls with the tides twice a day. It has worked this way since the 17th century.

Can I take the water bus from Hama Rikyu back to Asakusa? Not at the moment. Tokyo Cruise boats stop at Hama Rikyu to let passengers off, but you can't get on there for the trip back to Asakusa. Walk out toward Shiodome Station (7 minutes) or Shimbashi Station (10–12 minutes) and take the train.

When is the best time to visit Hama Rikyu? Autumn (late October through early December) if you want the leaves and the cosmos fields together. Early spring (late February through March) for canola and plum blossoms, with fewer people than in cherry blossom season. If you want to see the tidal pond full, check Tokyo Bay high tide times online before you go.

How long should I spend at the garden? Sixty to ninety minutes is enough to see it properly. Add 20–30 minutes if you stop for matcha at the Nakajima Teahouse, which we'd recommend: between the setting and the low entry fee, it's one of the best-value tea stops in central Tokyo.

Is the Nakajima Teahouse part of the garden admission? No. Garden admission is ¥300, and matcha with a Japanese sweet at the Nakajima Teahouse is about ¥800–1,000 on top. The teahouse takes walk-ins during garden hours, and you don't need a reservation.