Tokyo’s best downtown garden gets even more beautiful with after-dark fall colors event

Naked returns to Shinjuku Gyoen.

There’s never really a bad time to go to Tokyo’s Shinjuku Gyoen garden. Located within easy walking distance of Shinjuku Station, it’s a nature-filled oasis right in the middle of downtown Tokyo.

Autumn, though, is an especially good time to visit, since that’s when the parks’ trees show their fall colors. Usually, you’ve got to head outside the Tokyo city center to see much colorful foliage, but Shinjuku Gyoen has plenty of beautiful views to keep you oohing, aahing, and snapping photos.

The only drawback, though, is that the park usually closes at sundown. Later this month, though, Shinjuku Gyoen will be staying open after dark as part of a special event with Japanese art and design company Naked.

The garden’s most expansive fall color sections will be illuminated, creating a breathtaking contrast between the yellow and crimson of the leaves and the dark night sky. That includes Shinjuku Goyen’s 200-meter (656-foot) long path lined with Platanus/plane trees, as well as the sloped area of the garden known as Momijiyama, or “Maple Tree Mountain.”

Each group of visitors will also be given a “Naked Distance Lantern” to carry as they stroll around the park. The lanterns produce an image of maple, maidenhair, or Platanus leaves on the ground, letting you play a part in creating the art.

Shinjuku Gyoen’s regular in-park snack stands won’t be open during the after-hours event, but light refreshments will be available from the Tree by Naked food truck, including cups of tea with edible maple leaves floating atop them (yes, maple leaves can be eaten).

The event, which follows a sakura-season illumination held at the garden this past spring, is called Naked Autumn Night Garden at Shinjuku Gyoen 2023, and will take place from November 22 to December 3. Adult admission is 2,200 yen (US$15) Monday through Thursday, and 2,600 yen on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, but those prices drop to 2,000 and 2,200 yen if you reserve your tickets in advance through the event website here.

Related: Naked Autumn Night Garden at Shinjuku Gyoen 2023 website
Source, images: PR Times
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