Nezu Shrine Azalea Festival from mid-April till the end of Golden Week (1st week of May) is a beautiful landscape of ancient Japanese temple buildings, bright orange gates and thousands and thousands of azalea bushes in every color possible. The Shrine’s azalea garden was reportedly planted 300 years ago and has over 3,000 azalea bushes with over 100 species. If you have a botanist or flower lover in your family, this will be a favorite annual destination. While you are there purchase a sweet and warm bean cake and enjoy the complementary tea served under awnings as you watch the flowers and ducks on your tatami mat.

Nezu Shrine Azalea Festival

A great one-day outing is first to visit the Shrine between 10:00 -11:00 (it gets very grounded around noon) and then walk about 15-20 mins to Ueno Park (Zoo, Art Museum, the Shitamachi Museum, National Science and Nature Museum or the Yamashiroya toy store). Between the Nezu Shrine and Ueno Park, there are plenty of little eateries; one of our favorites is Innsyoutei.

Established in 1705, is a Shinto shrine located in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. The shrine was transferred to Nezu to commemorate the fifth shogun Tsunayoshi Tokugawa’s choosing of his successor. The Shrine is designated as an Important Cultural Property. Dating from 1706, Nezu Shrine is an excellent example of large-scale Edo-era shrine architecture. The vibrant vermilion and gold lacquered ‘gongen-zukuri’ style buildings are a pleasure to view and make great photos.

In September (usually the third weekend) there is an Annual Grand Festival where Mikoshi (portable) shrines are collected from around Tokyo and carried through Nezu Shrine. The festival is two days of great sites, sounds and food.