Hama-rikyū Gardens (浜離宮恩賜庭園, Hama-rikyū Onshi Teien) is a metropolitan garden in Chūō ward, Tokyo, Japan. Located at the mouth of the Sumida River, it was opened to the public on April 1, 1946. A landscaped garden of 250,216 m² includes Shioiri-no-ike (Tidal Pond), and the garden is surrounded by a seawater moat filled by Tokyo Bay. It was remodeled as a public garden on the site of a villa belonging to the ruling Tokugawa family in the 17th century.
At the centre of Shioiri-no-ike is a teahouse, reached by two bridges, where visitors can enjoy refreshments, such as matcha and Japanese sweets, in the tea-ceremony style.[1] The garden includes a peony garden, a plum tree grove and fields with flowers for every season. Japanese falconry and aikido are demonstrated at New Year.
History
In 1654, Tokugawa Tsunashige, the younger brother of ShōgunTokugawa Iemitsu and daimyō of Kōfu Domain, received permission to reclaim land from Edo Bay, upon which he built a villa and garden. The property was inherited by his son, Tokugawa Ienobu, who later became 6th Tokugawa shōgun. Succeeding generations of shōgun used the location as a secondary residence, and from the time of Tokugawa Ienari through Tokugawa Ieyoshi, it was a place where the shōgun could indulge in falconry. The main palace at Hama was destroyed by fire in 1724, and has not been rebuilt since. In 1729, an elephant which had been received by the shōgun as a present from Vietnam was kept on the grounds for 12 years. During the Bakumatsu period, the site was turned over to the Tokugawa Navy as a training ground. In 1867, the shogunate erected a western-style stone building as a place for foreign diplomats to stay when visiting Edo.
