Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden is scenic year-round, but there are few better times to visit than in autumn at the height of the beautiful foliage. While the garden is usually only open during the day, the fall season will see a limited number of evening openings, during which you can admire lit-up red, orange and yellow maple leaves plus projection mapping displays by digital art collective Naked Inc.
Once you enter through the Okido Gate, you can borrow a lantern for free to bring on the walk. It comes in four different colours, each with a maple, ginkgo or London plane leaf pattern which projects onto the ground. The park’s 200-metre-long avenue lined with London plane trees will be illuminated in warm light, while the Maple Hill area will have sparkling laser and gradient lights to make it seem like the trees are swaying. Don’t miss the autumnal projection mapping at the Middle Pond, showing images of maple and ginkgo leaves falling.
Try heightening your senses while walking from one attraction to another. You’ll notice that aroma is infused into the air at certain points, while special sounds are installed at other locations to make the experience more calming.
Don’t forget to check out the food truck area, complete with benches for you to rest at. The food trucks here change regularly, but you can always expect Tree by Naked offering hojicha canelés(¥400) and vegan sweet potato snacks (¥500), as well as matcha soy milk latte (¥700) and hojicha chai latte (¥700). For something savoury, get sweet potato and mushroom soy stew (from ¥500) or a soy sauce or spicy miso dango (from ¥500) at the Nihon no Aki truck.
While tickets can be purchased at the venue, we recommend booking online to avoid long queues. You can secure a ticket now for ¥2,200 for openings between Monday and Thursday, or ¥2,600 for entrance on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and holidays.