Chrysanthemum Exhibition at Shukkeien Garden

Shukkeien was laid out in 1620 as the garden of a villa for Asano Nagaakira, lord of Hiroshima, and designed by his senior retainer Ueda Soko, also renowned as a tea master. Centred on a pond said to be a miniature of the West Lake in China, it is a strolling garden whose scenery unfolds along the paths, and it is designated a national Place of Scenic Beauty. Each autumn the garden hosts a chrysanthemum exhibition; in 2026 it runs from 31 October to 8 November, with carefully trained plants adding colour to the landscape. On Tuesday 3 November, a public holiday, the Ueda Soko school of tea, which traces its lineage to the garden's designer, joins the garden in holding a chrysanthemum-viewing tea gathering, with a formal seating in the Seifukan teahouse and a more casual botebote-cha seating, so visitors can take a bowl of tea while looking out over the flowers. The garden is open 9:00 to 17:00 with last entry at 16:30; admission is ¥350 for adults and ¥150 for university students, free for high school students and younger and for those aged 65 and over, with no extra charge for the exhibition. It stands right beside the Shukkeien-mae tram stop on the Hiroden Hakushima Line, within walking distance of Hiroshima Station, and next to the Hiroshima Prefectural Art Museum.