Sankeien – Yokohama, Japan – 9 May 2017 – a traditional Japanese-style garden that is peaceful and lush with green

Sankeien is a spacious Japanese-style garden that is not too far from Yokohama’s city center. In May 2017, the garden was lush green with heaps of healthy looking plants and trees. If you want to start off strong for a day, it is a fantastic garden to stroll around with your better half. There are plenty of beautiful sights to capture and see.

To get to Sankeien, you can catch one of the many buses that take you close to the garden. You can choose to get off at Honmoku bus stop or Honmokubara bus stop (and catch another bus) and walk the rest of the distance.

We arrived well before the opening time at 9:00 am. We weren’t the first visitors, but we were one of the firsts. The admission fee is just 700 yen per person. It can be cheaper if you brought a coupon from your hotel or travel guide.

This cat was the first visitor to the garden.

Near the entrance is a huge body of water and an old Japanese-style pagoda in the not so far distance. It is a great location to get a feel for the area. You will recognize that you can make a circular around the park and make the pagoda your go-to destination. There will be plenty of pits stops in between. Always remember that the journey is far more important than the destination.

The large pond and pagoda in the distance

Of course, the garden is breaming with well curated plants and trees. It is incredible how much effort has gone into making each and every plant beautiful. Even the paths looked meticulously clean. I noticed that there a lot of senior Japanese people tending to various parts of the garden. They were incredible to watch.

Look at how clean and almost perfect everything looks at Sankeien

There are plenty of ponds in the park. All of which have their own unique features, including this pond below with the various lily pads.

There are also lots of old historic buildings you can explore. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to enter, i.e. step in, most of the buildings, which are scattered throughout the garden, but you should be able to see everything you need as most have opened their doors (so you can see inside).

There are several historic buildings you can see, but not enter at Sankeien (with Gazman)

Always take the time to see things off the main path. If you do, you will see sights like this.

There are so many great opportunities to take photos at Sankeien

One thing is for sure, you should be able to capture some incredible looking photos if you get the right angles. You won’t be disappointed. I found that early in the morning was the best time to avoid the crowds.

This is the pagoda that you can see from the entrance at Sankeien

We eventually reached the pagoda. It required a trek up some hills and some heavily (tree) shaded locales. It felt like I was walking through a rainforest. (Though I have never been in a rainforest, but I have seen enough David Attenborough documentaries.) From the pagoda, you can get a glimpse of the rest of the park from an elevated position.

Don't miss some the sights at Sankeien — Don’t miss some the sights at Sankeien

The whole garden was just tranquil and peaceful.

You can take part in a traditional tea ceremony if you book in advance and also enter some of the buildings, which have interesting ornaments on display with signage in English to explain its history.