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Sankeien Garden in Autumn

HOME > Japan’s Local Treasures > Sankeien Garden in Autumn

Enjoy the superb display of fall colors at this beautiful Japanese garden in Yokohama

Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture

Sankeien Garden, first opened to the public in the port of Yokohama in 1906, covers 45 acres and has been designated a National Place of Scenic Beauty. It is a beautiful garden to visit at any time of year, but is particularly sensational during autumn.

This Japanese garden was designed by Hara Tomitaro, a wealthy silk merchant, known by the pseudonym Hara Sankei. What distinguishes Sankeien is its splendid collection of 17 historic buildings relocated here from places around Japan, including Kyoto and Kamakura. The buildings include a three-story pagoda, traditional tea houses, residential houses, and even a temple hall. Ten of the buildings have been designated Important Cultural Properties by the Japanese government, and three more are recognized as Tangible Cultural Properties by the city of Yokohama.

Strolling through Sankeien Garden is a chance to enjoy spectacular landscaping and view these historic buildings in a gorgeous setting a world away from modern Yokohama. In autumn, many consider the best scenic spot in the garden to be around Chōshūkaku, a pavilion built in 1623 and believed to have belonged to the third Tokugawa shogun Iemitsu. During the peak of the autumn season, from late November to early December, the path behind the pavilion is open to the public, from which you can view the three-story pagoda framed by the stunning fall colors of the surrounding maple trees.

How to get there

From Haneda Airport, take a bus to Yokohama Station (about 30 minutes). At the East Exit Bus Station at Yokohama Station, go to platform No. 2 and take the municipal bus (Route No. 8 or 168) to the bus stop Honmoku Sankeien-iriguchi. Sankeien Garden is a five-minute walk from the bus stop.

58-1 Honmoku Minotani, Naka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa-ken