Ritsurin Garden (栗林公園)
This famous landscape garden is located in Takamatsu. Built during the Edo Period, it is one of the city’s main attractions designed to make you feel serenity.
It’s one of the most prettiest gardens I’ve visited, compared to the Suizenji Jojuen Garden in Kumamoto and Kenrokuen in Kanazawa…I can’t forget it, I would love to visit more Japanese gardens before I make this one my favourite but, so far…it is by far the one I love the most.
The different shades of green painted all over the landscape with only one blushing red round bush in the middle near the wooden arched bridge, makes it stand out as a memorable place. There were also many BIG koi fishes and they were so adorable, sucking on the rocks and making popping sounds. You can also take a river boat ride, and grab some food at the small shop whilst enjoying the view.
Getting here is very easy. I walked half an hour from the station, it’s just a straight walk. But on the way back I took the local bus. Alternatively you could take the train, but because it was such a lovely sunny day I wanted to leg-it and see more. The garden isn’t free, and it’ll cost 410 yen per adult. When I arrived in the morning, it was very quiet so I was very happy that it wasn’t swamped with tourists as I had imagined.
Overall, I had so much fun exploring.
—Tofu
The Flying Tofu 
I went here 30 years ago. I have no memory of it and it was winter. Thanks
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Awww wow 30 years ago, must have been a different experience back then. I also remember this garden more because a lovely elderly staff member walked me around and introduced me to different flowers and he liked nature and pointed out the best area to get a good pic 😊
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Funny story. We, I was in a group, chose to travel to takamatsu on the coldest day in several years. We had to grab the futon from the unused beds in the youth hostel because it was so cold. No central heating! I cold barely breathe because of the heaviness of the blankets
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Wow!!! Must have been super cold!!!
The only time I had that experience was when I was in Kurume fukuoka, it was raining and snowing all week and I was staying in a small ryokan, no central heating too but I hid under the heavy blankets of the futon. The weight of the blankets was quite comfy 😊
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There was a bucket of water outside the door when we arrived at the hostel. It was ice the next morning when we left. The women in our group tried using their blow dryers to heat the blankets but the heat almost immediately disappeared. And they burned out their hair dryer
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Haha what an experience and funny moment 🙂
It’s always so entertaining to to read about peoples travel experiences!! I’m not a big fan of cold weather, it makes me wanna stay indoors.
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Stunning photos!
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Thank you! It’s a very picturesque place 😊
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Gorgeous photographs of a wonderful garden and those Koi carp are huge!
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A very beautiful garden. The hill in the background gives the garden a never-ending feel and serene is a good description. Enjoy the memories.
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Koi fishies!!! I love koi fishies. ♥ There is so much vibrancy to these photos. A few of the shots even reminded me of Fiji with all of the bright green and beautiful blue skies. I’ve never heard of this place before but it looks like a marvellous place to visit.
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Wow! Those koi fishes are gigantic 🙂
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what a simply beautiful garden! and the fish… wow they are some BIG fish!
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Whoa! Those fish are insanely huge & gorgeous. Love all of these photos. Visiting this garden would be a dream!
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