I visited Shinjuku for the first time on April 22, 2023. Shinjuku is a bustling district of Tokyo City that contains the busiest train station in the world and the nightlife district, with many restaurants, bars, and entertainment centers. As such, there was a huge number of people out and about when I visited. During my visit, I first went to Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden (which is saved for last since it is the largest section), then a cat café, then a Donki store. I stayed longer to wander a little and have dinner afterwards.
Shinjuku has a very modern look.This is a Donki, aka Don Quixote store! It is a discount store with a little bit of everything on its shelves.The sheer number of people moving about their business in Shinjuku is amazing. And staggering.Down this little alley is a bunch of restaurants! It looks so inviting to venture into, despite the cramped quarters.Japanese people do not like to have their pictures taken, or if picture are taken, to have the faces blurred out.With so many people, it’s pretty unavoidable that there are a lot of faces that needed obscuring…
Cat café
I visited Cat Cafe Mocha Lounge in Shinjuku for a visit with cats. This cat café was much more crowded than the one in Chiba, likely both due to the location and the time. The cats coexisted peacefully with people, though most of them seemed indifferent to receiving attention. There is a point where a cat gets tired of attention, though sometimes it doesn’t seem like it.
A look at the menu for this café.Lookit that little tongue!The one kitten not fully grown in the café.A lot of the cats here were very fluffy.This cat liked napping with customers.There is plenty to see and do in the lounge.Tables, chairs, bookcases……cushioned areas……beds……and even a gaming area and a TV showing anime.
Fun moments
I rounded a corner in Shinjuku to find a massive Godzilla head sticking above the buildings, its mouth open in an unending roar. It was very fun to see it on accident.
In addition, I found a Krispy Kreme!! The menus between Japan and America are mostly different, but the original glazed donut tastes exactly the same. It was so nice to have a taste of home in Japan. My favorite, aside from the original glazed, was definitely the crème brulee donut. Custard is hiding inside the donut, and it does actually taste a lot like a crème brulee. The other regional donuts, such as the matcha donut, were also interesting to try.
These all look so good…Bet they all taste good, too.These were my choices!If you look closely, you can see the custard filling.
Shinjuku Gyoen
My first stop on this trip was actually to Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden, though I have left it until last thanks to the sheer size of this section. Shinjuku Gyoen will definitely be making reappearances in subsequent posts. The scenery shifts from season to season, and it is a great place to see native Japanese flowers. It also has a large greenhouse with non-native flowers and plants, with the blooming plants also changing from season to season.
Because of the displays in the information center, I have decided to treat my visits to Shinjuku Gyoen as scavenger hunts to find all of the flowers listed. It’s a lot more fun than mindlessly wandering around the garden.
So, to start, let’s take a look at the targets for this time:
The garden.The greenhouse.
And here are the results of the garden scavenger hunt: 13/15 found 1. Japanese big leaf magnolia ✓ 2. Dead nettle ✓ (see Japanese Flowers, Pt. 1) for a picture) 3. Azalea ✓ 4. Handkerchief tree X 5. Paper mulberry ✓ 6. Fragrant snowbell ✓ 7. Japanese wisteria ✓ 8. Star of Bethlehem ✓ 9. Fringed iris ✓ 10. Chinese violet cress ✓ 11. Tulip tree ✓ 12. Banana shrub X 13. Rhododendron ✓ 14. Urn orchid ✓ 15. Japanese horse chestnut ✓
Did pretty well here. A few of these (azalea, Japanese wisteria, fringed iris, and urn orchid) overlap with flowers I showed in the flower posts.
Japanese big leaf magnoliaJapanese big leaf magnolia flower budJapanese big leaf magnolia flowerExample of azaleas. There will be plenty more later.Paper mulberry. Quality is a little crunchy due to the zoom I needed to use to make out those tiny berries.Fragrant snowbell.They look so freaking pretty.Pretty from a distance, too!Japanese wisteriaStar of Bethlehem close-upA Star of Bethlehem cluster.Stars of Bethlehem growing among some seriously funky tree roots.Fringed irisChinese violet cresssThese are pretty flowers!The tulip tree looks like lotuses floating on water.Very elegant.RhododendronThey look very similar to azalea because they are related.The urn orchid, aka Chinese ground orchid.The Japanese horse chestnut, red variety.
And the results of the greenhouse scavenger hunt: 8/14 found Targets: 1. Glaucous barrel cactus ✓ 2. Clock vine ✓ 3. Angel’s trumpets ✓ 4. Scutellaria longituba ✓ 5. Alpinia intermedia X 6. Mickey mouse plant ✓ 7. Jabuticaba X 8. Heliconia humilis X 9. Asoka tree ~ 10. Scarlet flame bean ~ 11. Brazilian red cloak ✓ 12. Mountain thistle X 13. Sal tree X 14. Yellow strawberry guava X
I did not do so hot with the greenhouse scavenger hunt. It was difficult to figure out where different plants were located. Also, I was running out of time…
Glaucous barrel cactus. There were barely any blooms left. Clock vineThese look pretty neat!An angel’s trumpetCloser…And closer…Scutellaria longitubaThe Mickey Mouse plantA Mickey Mouse plant flower actually looking like Mickey MouseThe asoka tree, minus any hint of flowers.Found the caption, but the plant it was attached to didn’t have any flowers left…Brazilian red cloak
And now, let’s round things out with scenery from the garden and greenhouse that were not a part of the scavenger hunt.
The gate to Shinjuku Gyoen.An early glimpse of the park.What do you see between the leaves?Shinjuku Gyoen is very popular to visit.Some beautiful irises near the front of the park.The scenery is just so green. It’s amazing!Starting now, some pictures from the Japanese garden in Shinjuku Gyoen.The Taiwan Pavilion.Yes, the QR code to the audio guide works. Give it a listen if you want!The view from the Taiwan Pavilion.It’s very beautiful.I see Tokyo in the background.A tiny island with a bonsai. Very elegant.An ornate design on one of the windows.Oops, I didn’t get the landscape level!Having wisteria fall from above on you is a very serene experience.It’s beautiful, having these lovely purple flowers dangling above you.And the view from underneath the wisteria is lovely, too!This little island path was closed off. First guess why is that people kept falling into the pond, haha.Now this is a ground cover I’ve never seen before.I thought these trees looked amazing!This is ground cover, not water cover. But they look a lot like lily pads!I think they have a pretty shape!A pretty drooping tree! I love these kinds of trees.I’m not sure if it’s a willow, though…FISH!!The way these koi followed people around was very cute.Looks kinda swampy…Now this is water cover. Looks very pretty!Giant dogwood.Not sure what this is, but it’s a very pretty little flower!Some of the trees that are attached to those funky-looking roots. Pretty sure these are pond cypresses. Some sort of cypress, definitely, at least.Wild strawberries in the garden!! They’re so little…Now we have more azalea pictures. Take a look at the different varieties!It’s amazing how different-colored flowers can be grown from the same plant. Though, maybe there was some grafting involved?The two-colored azaleas are very pretty, too.A darker two-tone……and a lighter two-tone.It seemed difficult to pair red with any other color, but these had a bit of white in them.There’s a small museum in Shinjuku Gyoen that details the park’s history. Check out the different plants and flowers of each season!Autumn and winter plants. I hope to show some of them as the months pass!
Here’s the greenhouse portion:
Now these are some familiar plants from the flower shop…This plant’s scientific name is Sedum morganianum E.Walth. What a mouthful! Looks cool, though.So many barrel cactuses. Looks just like home!I think pitcher plants are freaking cool.This is called a jade vine. Looks like it should be green banana vine to me…Mom only wishes she could have orchids this happy.They had a cacao tree growing here! I was excited to see the bean pods!Most of the orchids here were suspended in their pots, instead of just sitting on the ground.The Ilex dimorphophylla… spikyI saw quite a few of these while working for the flower shop!These hanging plants are so. cool.Lotus flower! A little crunchy thanks to zoom, unfortunately…Lemons???One sad dead bird of paradise growing from the plant. Definitely missed this one’s blooming season…This is a Sanderson’s bladderwort! It’s carnivorous! All the carnivorous parts are hiding underground, though, and it only targets microbes.This Cape sundew is also carnivorous!! Those little red tendrils on the leaves curl inward when an insect flies in and becomes stuck on secretions, further trapping the insect and digesting it.This is some species of bromeliad. I think its water-catching architecture is really neat.The big boi, aka the biggest pitcher plant in the greenhouse.
Finally, let’s take a closer look at the rose garden. Shinjuku Gyoen has a huge number of rose bushes of different species. I was a little early for the height of rose season, but many roses had already begun to bloom. I will do my best to pair roses with their cultivar name.
The rose garden is framed by these picturesque trees.The early foliage, combined with the speckled trunk, is very striking.The name of these trees is London plane.A zoomed-out view of the rose garden.The rose garden from another angle.La France rosesUnknownUnknownThe pink roses on the left are International Herald Tribune rosesUnknownUnknownPrincess Aiko rosesHelen Traubel rosesPlaygirl rosesFragrant Cloud rosesHojun rosesBlack Tea rosesRakuen rosesDainty Bess rosesMoonlight rosesCocktail rosesSpring Corsage rosesAn unknown rose vine that I found very impressive…… because its thorns are HUGE!
These are amazing plant pictures you are sharing. Some of the plants don’t even seem real! I tried so hard to imagine the fragrance of the flowers (the ones that have fragrance)! Beautiful, stunning flora! (And wonderful feline fauna at the cat cafe!)
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