Society

Downtown Tokyo's most popular sakura-viewing garden increases admission prices by 150 percent

Mar 27 (soranews24.com) - Right before the cherry blossoms start to bloom, prices went up, but itâ€™s still a must-visit bargain.

While some of Japanâ€™s most famous cherry blossom-viewing destinations are located in far-flung corners of the country or high in the mountains, you can still see dazzling displays of the flowers right in the middle of Tokyo. One of the best sakura spots is located just a short walk from Shinjuku Station, where youâ€™ll find Shinjuku Gyoen garden.

The grounds are beautiful at any time of year, but particularly so in spring. Just inside the gates is a wide, grassy field ringed by cherry blossom trees, perfect for spreading out a blanket for a picnic, and more sakura await deeper inside as you stroll along the crisscrossing paths and bridges.

If the name Shinjuku Gyoen sounds familiar, it might be because the garden was previously in the news for an unusual reason. Shinjuku Gyoen charges admission, but it was discovered that one employee had been regularly letting foreigners in for free because he felt too scared to tell them about the admission fee, with one estimate of the lost revenue coming to 25 million yen (US$223,000).

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