Kyoto Prefectural Botanical Garden

Measuring over 240,000 square meters and filled with over 12,000 different varieties of plantlife, Kyoto Prefectural Botanical Garden is considered Japan’s premier botanical garden. Originally built as part of an exhibition for the coronation of Emperor Taisho in 1913 but not completed until 1923 due to lack of funding, Kyoto’s botanical gardens were the first in Japan. Within the grounds you will discover a vast lawn with countless cherry trees as well as a rose garden. During warmer months the gardens offer a great place for recreation and relaxation and during the autumn the fiery red colours in the garden draw many more visitors.

The garden’s greenhouse was opened in 1992 and features nine different zones, from tropical to subtropical. Among the many thousands of plants in the greenhouse is a specimen of the largest blooming flower in the world, a rafflesia , named after Sir Stamford Raffles, who discovered it in 1818. In 2013, the Night Flower Garden opened, where you can experience nocturnal flowers blooming.