Mejiro Garden
This season's opening
Mejiro Garden autumn illumination (TERASU)
- Hours
- 17:30–21:00 in 2025 (last entry 20:30)
- Admission
- ¥300 in 2025 (free for preschoolers); free during normal hours.
- Booking
- No bookingSome side events need booking.
Evening opening with the maples around the small pond lit and reflected in the water.
A ten-minute loop; go round twice, slowly. The bicycle parking was closed during the 2025 event, so walk from Mejiro Station.
About the garden
Behind a residential wall five minutes from Mejiro Station, a free garden packs a 500 m² pond and a waterfall into a small plot. The sukiya-style tea house Sekichoan on the stone wall takes its name from Akai Tori, a children's magazine founded on this site in 1918. Thirty minutes is plenty.
Where to stand
Once inside the gate, go round to the north side of the pond and face Sekichoan: this is where its cedar posts and bark roof reflect in the water. Then sit in the hexagonal pavilion at the water's edge and look for the ceramic red bird on its roof. Finish on the waterfall deck above, looking down over the whole plot.
Practical notes
Free, and tiny: allow half an hour. Closed on the 2nd and 4th Mondays. The tea house is a rental facility, not a cafe, so there is nowhere to buy tea inside. Mejiro Station is on the Yamanote line, one stop from Ikebukuro.
Tea and food nearby
Small places within walking distance. Check their opening days against the garden's.
- ☾ Open after the evening viewing5 min walk🍽 FoodNarutake
An unsigned Japanese restaurant with good sake; somewhere calm for a late dinner after the illuminated garden.
Order：Seasonal Japanese dishes and sake
- ☾ Open after the evening viewing7 min walk🍶 BarBar Ihara
An eight-seat classic bar up a half-flight in an old building; it opens at 20:00, just right for one drink after the lights (smoking allowed throughout).
Order：A seasonal fruit cocktail
- 5 min walk☕ CafeCoffee Banchamu
A basement coffee house by Mejiro Station, open since 1977 and still in its red-and-green interior: a good stop before the lights come on.
Order：Baked cheese curry on bread