#Rikugien

Tōkyō has a lot to offer for photography fans.

Want to go high up? The Tōkyō Sky Tree has an observation deck at a breezy height of 450 metres. From up there, the other skyscrapers look like miniatures.

Prefer nature and bright colours? The Rikugi-en garden offers gorgeous scenes, especially in autumn.

Fancy a light show? The Tōkyō Mega Illumination definitely isn’t exaggerating with its name. Where horse races normally take place, a colourful course of lights, tunnels, laser shows, music and nature sounds has been set up. The splendour just can’t be described in words.

Sadly, this brings our stay in Japan to an end. The suitcases are packed. Tomorrow we’ll have a few more hours for a farewell tour in Tōkyō, before the plane takes us back home.

The landscape garden Rikugien in Tokyo is already a spectacle of bright colours during the day in autumn. As dusk falls, the beauty is given a really special atmosphere by spotlights, colourful light and fog machines.

The attraction is also really popular with Japanese people. Towards the evening, half of Tokyo seems to gather in the park. You jostle along the narrow paths to find a spot for nice photos. Another challenge is that tripods aren’t allowed for safety reasons, so you have to take the photos freehand. Luckily, everyone is considerate of each other, so it’s still fun and you get to take a few nice snaps home with you.

From the Yamanote station Komagome, you can reach Rikugien in a few minutes on foot. Entry costs 300¥. The park is only lit up at night during the cherry blossom and autumn leaves seasons, the rest of the time it closes at 5 pm (last entry 4:30 pm).

Today we took it easy wandering through Tokyo. In the Asakusa district, we first visited the Senso-ji. The temple is a must-do on our itinerary every time we visit Tokyo.

After that, we popped into a little gallery where artists were exhibiting miniatures and photos of miniature worlds.

There’s another German Christmas market by the Tokyo Skytree. It’s really small, though, with the selection pretty much limited to mulled wine (more of a mulled punch really), crêpes, beer and bratwurst. But to make up for it, a Japanese a cappella group was singing their songs by the Christmas tree.

The Rikugien landscape garden offered a nice bit of Momiji vibe in the evening light. After sunset, the park gets lit up with spotlights, giving you a completely different view of nature.