Hama-rikyu Gardens

The tide still decides what the main pond looks like. Hama-rikyu's Shioiri pond takes in water from Tokyo Bay, and it is the only tidal pond from the Edo period left in Tokyo. The land itself was reclaimed from the sea. In 1654 it went to Tokugawa Tsunashige, and once his son Ienobu became the shogun's heir in 1704 it turned into a shogunal villa, later called Hama Goten. The Meiji government took it over as a detached imperial palace, which is where the name comes from. Tokyo received it in November 1945 and opened it to the public on April 1, 1946, and it is now both a Special Place of Scenic Beauty and a Special Historic Site. Look for the 300-Year Pine, said to date from Ienobu's rebuilding, and the two surviving duck-hunting grounds. A long wooden bridge crosses the pond to Nakajima no Ochaya, a teahouse on an island where you can sit with a bowl of matcha. Behind all of it rise the glass towers of Shiodome, which is the view most people photograph. Admission is 300 yen. The gates close at 17:00, with last entry at 16:30, which catches out visitors who arrive late in the afternoon.