Name: Shiba Rikyû    Alternate Name: Shiba Detached Palace; Shiba Rikyu; Kyu-Shiba-Rikyu  Address: Hamamatsucho  Mailing Address:   City:   State: Tokyo-to  Postal Code:   Country: JAPAN  Latitude/Longitude: lat=35.65; long=139.75 Find Gardens Nearby Phone:   Fax:   E-Mail:   Contact:   Designer(s):   Construction Period: -   Public/Private: PUBLIC  Hours: 9am - 4:30pm, Closed Mondays  Admission:   Added to JGarden: 8/26/2001  Last Updated: 8/10/2002  JGarden Description: This small stroll garden is an oasis in a concrete jungle and is supposed to be the oldest extant garden in in Tokyo. Tokugawa Ietsuna, the fourth Tokugawa shogun, gave to land here to Okubo Tadatomo. Construction of a garden began in 1678 and continued for centuries. It became the 'Shiba-Rikyu' gardens in 1875. The site is designed around a large pond which may have originally contained sea water. The pond includes two small islands, Oshima and Horai-jima, which are connected to the shore via footbridges. The garden is located next to the bus Hamamatsucho Station on the JR Yamanote-sen. You can get a bird's eye view of the garden from atop the World Trade Centre Building. To get up there, buy a ticket for the elevator on the first floor of the building. It is very close to the Hama Rikyu palace.

In the water Under the pines on shore Stand the friendly cranes; A thousand and eight thousand years Will they live on. Ike mizu no Migiwa no matsu no Tomozuru wa Chiyo ni yachiyo o Soete sumuramu.   Fujiwara Shigemitsu   Kitayama-dono gyokoki   trans. by M.V. Otake   1408