As summer starts to wane, escape to one of Tokyo’s many beautiful gardens for some quality time outdoors.

Once the capital of the Edo Shogunate, Tokyo is home to many majestic traditional gardens that were created by former feudal lords where you can easily feel a true sense of the seasonal transitions.

There are many to choose from, but here are some of my favorites.

– Especially famous for superb autumn colors

Rikugien is a spacious traditional garden built by a Tokugawa Shogun in 1702. Famous scenic spots from all over Japan are recreated here through landscaping with trees, ponds and bridges, along with a vast forest in the heart of Tokyo. There are also two garden teahouses where you can enjoy seasonal sweets and green tea. The large pond and wooded hiking trails are a birdwatcher’s paradise. Rikugien is known as one of the best autumn leaf-viewing spots in Tokyo, as it has over 500 maple trees and other trees like ginkgo and zelkova. There are special illuminations during the fall foliage season from late November to early December.

• Address: 6 Honkomagome, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo

• Hours: Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Dec. 29 – Jan. 1)

• Admission: 300 yen for Junior high school students and older, 150 yen for ages over 65

• Phone: 03-3941-2222

• Website

– A vast park that blends traditional, Western styles

Shinjuku Gyoen was once a daimyo residence of Kiyonari Naito, a vassal of first Edo Shogun Ieyasu Tokugawa, before it was confiscated by Meiji Restoration Government and redeveloped as an imperial garden in 1906. The 144-acre garden offers an oasis in the heart of Tokyo. This beautiful garden blends features from French formal gardens, English landscape gardens and Japanese traditional gardens, and was developed as a palace garden for international diplomacy. Due to this history, you’ll see many historical buildings related to the Imperial family and museums there as well. For a refreshment or meal, select one of the on-site restaurants or cafés for a break and impeccable seasonal view of the garden.

• Address: 11 Naitomachi, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo

• Hours: March 15 – June 10 and Aug. 1 – Sept. 30, 9 a.m. – 6 p.m.; Oct. 1 – March 14, - 4:30 p.m.; June 11 – July 31, 7 p.m.

• Admission: 500 yen for adults, 250 yen for high school and college students and ages over 65

• Phone: 03-3341-1461

• Website

– Traditional beauty surrounded by modernity

Built between 1678 and 1686, Shibarikyu is well-designed and one of its most distinctive charms is the contrast between the garden’s traditional beauty and the modern skyscrapers rising in the background. Stand around the pond and you can see the green pines and stately stone lanterns framing the impressive skyline of Tokyo’s Hamamatsucho District, including the World Trade Center Building. This sharp contrast and fusion of past and present make a landscape not common at other gardens.

• Address: 1-4-1 Kaigan, Minato-ku, Tokyo

• Hours: Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Dec. 29 – Jan. 1)

• Admission: 150 yen for Junior high school students and older, 70 yen for ages over 65

• Phone: 03-3434-4029

• Website

– Native plants, flowers bloom in relaxing spot

Built by wealthy antique dealer Kikuu Sahara in the early 19th century, Mukojima Hyakkaen is a traditional flower garden with Edo tradition. It is one of the few surviving of its kind from the Edo Era. A stroll through the half-acre garden will take you through pleasantly arranged walkways with a pond, tunnel of bush clovers, past several tea houses and stone monuments etched with poetry. Here you can enjoy many native Japanese and Chinese flowers and plants. Although these autumn flowers and plants are not very colorful, they have formed part of the landscape for centuries and compliment the features of the traditional Japanese garden.

• Address: 3-18-3 Higashi-Mukojima, Sumida-ku, Tokyo

• Hours: Open 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. (closed Dec. 29 – Jan. 1)

• Admission: 150 yen for Junior high school students and older, 70 yen for ages over 65

• Phone: 03-3611-8705

• Website

– Enjoy the changing landscape while you stroll around

Kiyosumi Teien is a strolling-style landscape garden featuring a large center pond with three small islands, artificial hills and a 4,000-tree forest. In 1878, Yataro Iwasaki, the founder of the Mitsubishi Conglomerate, purchased the area and developed this garden. Enjoy the changing landscape and search for signs of autumn while listening to the sound of wild birds and watching countless turtles relaxing in the pond.

• Address: 3-3-9 Kiyosumi, Koto-ku, Tokyo

• Hours: Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Dec. 29 through Jan. 1)

• Admission: 150 yen for Junior high school students and older, 70 yen for ages over 65

• Phone: 03-3641-5892

• Website

– Oldest daimyo garden at heart of city

Constructed in 1629, Koishikawa Korakuen is the oldest Tokyo daimyo garden. The vast garden features a central pond and artificial hills, along with a small river and waterfalls. Although it is in the center of Tokyo, the garden’s rich nature, lush greenery and water features make a peaceful escape from the city’s hustle and bustle. The seasonal colors are another highlight, making the garden a place you’ll want to visit throughout the year. You can enjoy a variety of seasonal flowers and plants, such as autumn foliage, red spider lilies, lotus ponds, irises, plum blossoms and even a rice field.

• Address: 1-6-6 Koraku, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo

• Hours: Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Dec. 29 – Jan. 1)

• Admission: 300 yen for Junior high school students and older, 150 yen for ages over 65

• Phone: 0555-72-3168

• Website

– A unique daimyo garden with a seawater pond

Hamarikyu, a large daimyo garden of the Edo Period that was once owned by the Tokugawa Shogunate family, features a tidal pond fed by seawater and two traditional duck-hunting grounds. The tidal pond, called “Shioiri-no-Ike,” is Tokyo’s only saltwater pond, and charms visitors with its unique appearance. There are four “floating” teahouses to enjoy matcha and traditional Japanese sweets on tatami-mat seating with great views of the surrounding scenery.

• Address: 1-1 Hamarikyu Teien, Chuo-ku, Tokyo

• Hours: Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Dec. 29 – Jan.

• Admission: 300 yen for Junior high school students and older, 150 yen for ages over 65

• Phone: 03-3541-0200

• Website

Naval Air Facility Atsugi

Yokosuka Naval Base

Yokota Air Base

Camp Zama