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Hama-Rikyu Garden in Shiodome
Winter
Throughout the park there are a number of plum and cherry trees, which blossom throughout spring. Although the image renders a lesser close up feel of the tree as depicted by Hiroshige it preserves the same vibrant mood. The ray of sunlight awakens the Sleeping Dragon Plume (Gariubai) from the cold winter thus starting the blossom season.
Notes
The Hama-rikyu Gardens were opened to the public in April 1946, but served as a feudal and imperial retreat for several centuries before that. After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, they became a villa belonging to the imperial household, before being given to the city of Tokyo in 1945. The Hama-rikyu Gardens are built around a central pond. In the middle of the pond is a teahouse, where you can sit down to enjoy a cup of matcha tea throughout the year. The garden’s pond is connected to the sea, and water flows in and out with the tide, meaning the park is in a permanent state of flux.