Kyu-Furukawa Gardens — Attraction in Tokyo

The best Japanese gardens in Japan are truly sublime. I had the great good fortune to visit one of those, the Kyu-Furukawa Gardens, located about a 45 minute subway ride from Shibuya Station at the heart of the enormous city of Tokyo.

Sunday, March 23, was the most beautiful day of the year so far in 2025. The temperature rose to around 25°C (that’s about 75°F), so it was literally short sleeve weather.

It was still just a little early, this year, for cherry blossom season. So I wasn’t expecting to find beautiful blossoms at Kyu-Furukawa today. But I was more interested in the overall design and feel for the garden, which enjoys a great reputation. It’s noted in Japanese tourist literature as one of the better ones to see. It certainly did not disappoint.

Kyu-Furukawa is unusual for a Japanese garden, in that there is also a Western style garden next to a large, western style residence. By any American standard, the house is palatial, built of stone, with 20 foot ceilings on the first floor, and very large rooms throughout. It’s a lovely home, designed by a noted British architect, who also incorporated a charming rose garden in the backyard.

The brochure for the property is very diplomatic in how it describes the two garden styles. The Western style garden of mostly rosebushes, directly behind the residence, and the Japanese Garden, which is approximately 15 times larger, and encompasses the rest of the estate. The brochure explains, “…the garden architect of the Japanese Garden was Ogawa Jihei VII, from Kyoto, who completed an attractive and superb garden, which rivals or surpasses its western style counterpart.“

In reality, this description is far too generous toward the rose garden. The large Japanese Garden far surpasses its much smaller counterpart in its beauty, scale, variety, and overall aesthetic appeal. While the architect for the home is widely admired as "father of Japanese modern architecture," the architect of the Japanese portion was essentially the Mozart of Japanese landscape design. His design for the Murin-an garden (built between 1894-98) in Kyoto is counted among the greatest masterpieces in Japanese landscape design.

The Kyu-Furukawa Garden, completed in 1919, is the clear beneficiary of a master at the height of his powers. The most significant element is the centerpiece of the garden. A lovely pond that was created in the shape of the Chinese character 心 for “mind.” This inspires in me the spirit of “mindfulness,” which has always been the guiding purpose behind the idea of a Japanese garden.

Consider the genius of building a place of exquisite calm and beauty around your mind. This is a message that has been passed down to humanity from all the greatest philosophers. And here, in this garden, it is expressed in tangible, physical,...

Consist mainly of the western building, the rose garden, and the japanese garden. There are many varieties of roses which unfortunately wasnt blooming during my visit, but it was still nice to see so many type of rose in just a single garden. Looking at the pamphlet it seems rose blooming season is around end of april to june. The japanese garden is pretty vast. There's a lake in the center which is very pretty surrounded by the well-kept trees. It, uh, can be a bit dangerous tho since some bridges here are very narrow. You can visit these 2 gardens with just 150 yen. Going inside the building, however, isn't very worth it since it cost additional 400 yen and the inside doesn't have much to explore(probably only like 5-6 rooms with a small museum). It's not worth it unless you're interested in the exhibit that much. Alternatively there is a cafe inside the building so you can enjoy tea with the beautiful western interior even though you're limited access to some of the rooms.(the cafe room is part of the exhibit somehow lel...

The park is not barrier-free (accessible for wheelchair users), for your reference. There are no ramps, only stairs, and the paths are not paved in the Japanese garden. Even for able-bodied adults, some parts can be tricky for walking/going down the stairs.

Entrance fee is ¥150 for adults, free for young children. At the entrance there is a stamp table and a few stalls with various goods like soft serve ice cream, postcards, calendars, etc.

There is another shop with various souvenirs and some refreshments.

The mansion, as others mentioned, is an extra fee, as is the tea house.

The areas for roses are quite small, and it was very busy at 11am in late October (on a weekend) when most of the roses were in bloom.

There are various places to sit and enjoy the scenery or a snack.

It is about a 10-15 minute walk from Komagome Station.

Recommend visiting very early, right when they open or...