Before entering the Tokyo Dome, we visited Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens, which shares the same subway stops as the Tokyo Dome and Tokyo Dome City but inhabits a different world completely. A garden established in 1629 (quick, what was happening in North America at the time?), the seventeen acres are a beautifully sculpted, quiet haven of ponds, hungry carp (packets of food are available at the entrance – the visitors are well trained), and a flower calendar so visitors know what is in bloom. Lisa was understandably enchanted and intends to buy a season pass. The park has not been well publicized in tourist literature, possibly because visitors could not spend that much money there? We did spend 220 Y each for soft ice cream for the kids. The strawberry-and-vanilla was better than the edamame.
The garden was gloriously tranquil. Even the designated smoking spots did not spoil the day (the designated smoking spots in the Tokyo Dome were glass rooms crammed with smokers inhaling and watching the game on tv with very good ventilation. A far cry from Luftansa's early no-smoking policy of the 1970s (I believe), which designated half the plane as non-smoking). Definitely a place to return to.
While a presentation of nature, everything was meticulously laid out and cultivated, like an English garden, but far more interesting with greater variation and manipulation.
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