The Waka Poetry Garden - Rikugien
By Joe Peters
Rikugien Garden, constructed in 1702 and located near JR Komagome Station, is the largest and finest daimyo (top level samurai) garden in Tokyo (then called Edo). In spring, gorgeous weeping cherry trees show us their beautiful pink flowers. They look like one big single tree, but actually, they aren't. The gardeners have carefully arranged three trees to look like one. The light-up is from sunset to 9:00 PM.
I went there before sunset, and enjoyed walking around the garden, waiting for it to grow dark. As it got darker, the pale pink petals contrasted with the dark blue sky little by little. It was amazing and I was deeply touched.
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