Day 16 - Sankei-en - Outer Garden (Yokohama)

15th February, 2003 - We arrived at Sankei-en fairly easily... actually, we hadn't known much about the garden until the night before, so this was a spur of the moment thing for us.

Approximate Directions: From Yokohama Station (East Exit): About 35 minutes by bus number 8 or 125 to Honmoku Sankeien-mae. From there, Sankei-en is another five minutes by foot. From Negishi Station (JR Negishi Line): About ten minutes by bus number 54, 58, 99, 101 or 108 to Honmoku. From there, Sankeien is another 5-10 minutes by foot. 


It's approached via a stark causeway across a lake...


The premise - as far as I can see - is to recreate a wide range of garden and building designs within the one park. This makes for a very interesting design that adds variety (you get to see everything from the ancient thatch houses right up to Meiji-style villa. It's also a well known place for hanami (flower watching), at at this time of year the plum blossoms were just starting to show. A bit early still...

There are always things happening in Sankei-en... whether it's bonsai displays....

Or Koto (like a Japanese harp) and Shakuhachi (flute)... Actually - this music swept across the park and really gave the air a texture that was hard to describe... except delicious and filling. We really enjoyed listening...

The thing about Sankei-en is that there's a wealth of moments... where you come across that new style of building, or a new view that makes you stand back and reflect...

The moments in time that have brought you here are distilled... 

Or think that you've entered an alternative reality where the words "silent and deadly" have an altogether different meaning...

Actually Sankei-en is two gardens - an inner and outer - and they both have separate charges. The (main) outer garden has most of the attractions - the pagoda...















And main lake....


And we would most probably recommend this if you can't spend the whole day here. Please be warned however - Sankei-en gets VERY BUSY by lunchtime on the weekend, so you definitely should aim to get here earlier rather than later.