Showa Kinen Park is well know for all kinds of flowers almost year-around. But I would say the most crowded season might be autumn when leaves turn red, orange and yellow in mid-November. Autumn Leaves Festival with Autumn Night Walk is held between November 2nd to November 24th in 2019. But this year was relatively warm and leaves turned colors later than average year. Therefore, they decided to extend the festival one more weekend and you will be able to enjoy the night walk for additional weekend between November 29th through December 1st as well!!
Golden ginkgo trees along the Canal near Tachikawa Gate are almost the signature attraction of Showa Kinen Park in autumn. But there are also other places you must go in the park to enjoy autumn leaves.
Showa Kinen Park is full of trees that are turning all different colors but there are three places in the park that are especially great for enjoying autumn leaves.
Must-go-places for autumn leaves in Showa Kinen Park:
1. Canal Icho Namiki near Tachikawa Gate
2. Japanese Garden *Night Walk Available*
3. Katarai no Icho Namiki *Night Walk Available*
(Icho Namiki means “a row of ginkgo trees.”)
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Canal Icho Namiki
Among several gates of Showa Kinen Park, if you enter through Tachikawa Gate, Canal Icho Namiki soon appears. More than 100 ginkgo trees will greet you!! See the picture below for a glimpse of what the view looks like. I couldn’t quite capture the beautiful view in this picture so you must go see them yourself!!! 🙂
During autumn leaves festival in Showa Kinen Park, you can enjoy extended hour until late evening with special light-ups. However, only limited part of the park is open for the night walk. Unfortunately, Tachikawa Gate is closed during the evening so you will have to go during the day to enjoy autumn leaves.
Japanese Garden ~Night Walk Available~
Japanese Garden is a must-go-see place in Showa Kinen Park. When I first visited there, it reminded me of Kenrokuen(兼六園) in Kanazawa and the garden of Kinkakuji temple in Kyoto. (You will not see a golden temple though.)
In my opinion, it is beautiful in any season you go, but autumn is especially recommended because of beautiful autumn leaves. In addition, during autumn leave festival, it is open in the evening too with special light-up.
If you go to Japanese Garden in Showa Kinen Park, don’t forget to also visit Bonsai Garden located inside Japanese Garden. During the autumn leave festival, even leaves of Bonsai trees have turned red!
Katarai no Icho Namiki ~Night Walk Available~
Showa Kinen Park is huge! Therefore, even if I visited there many times, there are still many places I haven’t been to and Katarai no Icho Namiki was one of such places!
As I mentioned earlier, only limited part of Showa Kinen Park is open during the evening for Night Walk for autumn leaves festival. Katarai no Icho Namiki is one of two places that is open for Night Walk. Similar to Canal Icho Namiki near Tachikawa Gate, around 100 ginkgo trees are line up.
If you visit Canal Icho Namiki during the day, visit Katarai no Icho Namiki for Night Walk. With light-ups and music, you will get to enjoy different view of autumn leaves at night.
Autumn Leaves Festival 2019 Information
During autumn season, the park hours are extended until late evening to enjoy autumn leaves with light-ups. Information about Night Walk is available below.
■ Dates
November 2nd – November 24th, 2019
※※※ Night Walk is extended an additional weekend between November 29th and December 1st!!! It is NOT available during weekday between November 25th and November 28th.
■ Time
4:30 PM – 9:00 PM (Light on 5:00 PM, Light off 8:30 PM)
■ Gates open for Night Walk
Nishi (West) Tachikawa Gate, Sunagawa Gate, Akishima Gate
※ Other gates will be closed once Night Walk hour starts.
■ Fee
Day & Night ticket: 610 yen
Night only ticket: 450 yen
※ If you have yearly pass, you will have to pay extra 160 yen for Night Walk.
Autumn leaves are one of the most beautiful events I enjoy in Japan. But it is also very short period of time that you can enjoy them. So go enjoy autumn leaves before winter weather takes over!
