Not a Monday plan — both the Nezu Museum and Shinjuku Gyoen close then, and the Nezu also shuts between exhibitions, so check its calendar and book online. Meiji Jingū at opening, when the gravel is empty: every tree in that forest was planted by volunteers in the 1920s. Yoyogi next door is the loud, alive counterpart. Walk Omotesandō to the Nezu — Kuma's bamboo approach, and a hillside garden with teahouses that almost nobody upstairs bothers to walk down into. Gyoen last, and note it takes a ticket and closes earlier than you expect.
Harajuku & Omotesandō
~5hPlanted forest, then a garden behind a bamboo wall
- Meiji Jingū
Forest shrine of 100,000 donated trees — silence in the middle of the city.
- Nezu Museum
Kuma's bamboo approach, a pre-modern Asian art collection, and the garden that is the real reason to go.
Shinjuku
~3hThree garden styles behind one wall
- Shinjuku Gyoen
Imperial garden calm three minutes from the world's busiest station.