Shinjuku Gyoen Autumn Leaves 2026 Confirmed

新宿御苑の紅葉 — Tokyo (Kanto)

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At 58 hectares Shinjuku Gyoen is the largest garden in central Tokyo, and it holds three garden styles at once — a French formal parterre, an English landscape lawn and a traditional Japanese pond garden. The maples are concentrated in the Japanese garden and on Momijiyama, the low maple hill on the eastern side, and they turn late: usually the last week of November into the first ten days of December, among the latest colour in the city. Admission is 500 yen and the garden is closed on Mondays.

Background

The land was the Edo residence of the Naito family, lords of Takato, and became an imperial botanical experiment station and then an imperial garden. The present layout, with the French and English sections designed with the French landscape architect Henri Martinet, was completed in 1906. It was burned in the 1945 air raids, restored, and opened to the public as a national garden in 1949.

Getting there

Shinjuku Gyoenmae Station on the Tokyo Metro Marunouchi Line is five minutes from the Shinjuku Gate. Sendagaya Station on the JR Sobu Line is five minutes from the Sendagaya Gate at the quieter northern end. From the south exit of JR Shinjuku Station it is about a ten-minute walk.

Tips

• Closed Mondays, or the following weekday when Monday is a public holiday — this catches out more visitors than anything else here.
• From October to mid-March the garden closes earlier than in summer, so aim to be inside well before 16:00.
• Momijiyama and the Japanese garden in the east hold the maples; the plane and ginkgo avenues nearer Sendagaya turn a week or two earlier.
• Alcohol and sports equipment are not allowed inside, which is why this is the calmest of the big Tokyo parks in peak season.

Last verified against the official source: Sat, August 22, 2026