Entrance fee: adults \330, children \110 (children under six free)

(Photo: Rhododendron degronianum, Ericaceous evergreen shrub)
 

Access: Nikko Botanical Garden is about 3.5 km apart from Nikko Station (JR Nikko line) and Tobu Nikko Station (Tobu Nikko line). Take a bus at either station (Tobu Bus to Okuhosoo, Kiyotaki, Chuzenji, or Yumoto) and get off at "Hanaishi-cho." It takes two minutes to walk from the bus stop.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Outline

The Botanical Gardens, Nikko, is an institute for research and education of Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, and is generally known as "Nikko Botanical Garden." The main activities of the Botanical Gardens have centered on enriching the collections of temperate and alpine plants of Japan and adjacent regions for the purpose of botanical research and education. A total of 2,200 species (130 species of pteridophytes, 70 species of gymnosperms, and 2,000 species of angiosperms) are planted in the gardens.
 

(Photo: Iris setosa var. nasuensis)

History

The Botanical Gardens at Nikko was established in 1902 as an educational and research branch of the main Botanical Gardens of the Faculty of Science, University of Tokyo ("Koishikawa Botanical Garden," at Tokyo), for the study of alpine plants. At that time, the Botanical Gardens were located near the famous Toshogu Shrine. They were moved to the present locality in 1911. Additional areas, including a part of the garden of "Tamozawa Goyotei", a summer house of the royal family, were donated to or purchased by the Botanical Gardens in 1950, thereby enlarging the area to 104,490m².
 

Location and climate

The Botanical Gardens are located at 36^o45'N, 139^o36'E, and 647m above sea level, so that the climate is considerably cooler than in Tokyo. The Gardens stand on a slope facing the Daiya River and situated on rolling terrain with streams and ponds.
 

Plant collections

Woods:

Most of woody species in the Gardens are indigenous to Japan. They were planted in their present site as early as the foundation of the Botanical Gardens and have now reached sizes which appear in natural vegetation.

There are good collections of woody representatives of the Japanese temperate flora, including 22 of the 24 indigenous Japanese species of Acer, more than 10 species of Japanese Prunus, and 80 species of evergreen and deciduous rhododendrons (species from abroad included).

Herbs:

Many herbaceous species are grown under the shade of the trees and at their margins. To maintain plants that need special surroundings, rockeries, bog gardens and a fern garden have been established.

About 100 species of Japanese alpine plants are grown in the rockeries gardens. Plants from abroad, such as the Himalayas and Korea, are also cultivated.

Aquatic plants such as Equisetum limosum are grown in the bog gardens. Parts of this area are provided artificial raised bogs with bog mosses where the characteristic bog plants are cultivated.

The fern garden is located in the shade of trees. A selection of about 60 species of ferns from temperate regions of Japan are planted.