About Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden is located on the former site of the Naito clan (feudal lords of Takato and Shinshu during the Edo period) mansion.

It was originally built as a garden for the Imperial family, taking four years to complete, from 1902 to May 1906.

The garden's opening ceremony also served as a victory celebration for the Russo-Japanese War and was held in the presence of Emperor Meiji.

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden is believed to have been built according to a design by Henri Martinet, a prominent professor of horticulture.

When compared to a bird's-eye view drawing of the garden by Martinet, it shows the garden is almost identical to the present day, however the original blueprint no longer surviving having been destroyed in an air raid in 1945.

During the Taisho era the Western-style garden was used as a nine-hole golf course with the former Rest House repurposed as a clubhouse.

The park was almost completely burned down in an air raid in May 1945, leaving only the former Goryotei Pavilion and the Rest House.

After the war the Tokyo Metropolitan Agricultural Science Training Institute was temporarily established in the park, but in December 1947, the decision was made to use Shinjuku Gyoen as a national park.
　
On the 21st May 1949, the park was opened to the public as "Shinjuku Gyoen National Park".

It has since been enjoyed by many people and is considered to be one of the best landscaped gardens in Japan.