Located in the western part of Tokyo in Chofu City is the third oldest Buddhist temple in the Tokyo area, known as Jindai-ji (Jindai Temple) and attached to it is a large botanical garden with various gardens and scenic features. It’s free to visit the temple grounds, but there is a 500 yen fee for entrance to the expansive botanical gardens.
I was traveling here for the purpose of introducing the temple and its vast botanical gardens to my visiting friend, Scott, who himself is a gardener and landscaper from the Big Island of Hawaii. Jindai-ji (Jindai Temple) and attached to is a large botanical garden with various scenic features. It’s free to visit the temple grounds, but there is a 500 yen fee for entrance to the expansive botanical gardens.
I was traveling here for the purpose of introducing the temple and its vast botanical gardens to my visiting friend, Scott, who himself is a gardener and landscaper from the Big Island of Hawaii.
The many photos I took give you a good idea of how the temple grounds are laid out and what the commercial area that precedes it comprises. Jindai Temple is famous for one other reason: soba — the traditional Japanese buckwheat noodles served either cold or warm with a variety of toppings. There are quite a few soba restaurants located at the entrance street of the temple grounds, but since we came to the the temple on a rainy April 1st by car, we parked at a soba restaurant that included free parking when you eat at their place, shown in the first photo below.
In addition to the famous and delicious soba noodles, there are several other specialty foods on sale as well as many souvenirs at the colorful and friendly shops.in particular, one of the soba restaurants has its own koi pond, which is particularly beautiful, especially when the cherry trees are in bloom as was the case when we visited. I’ve eaten there on previous visits specifically to enjoy the views of the serene green pond while inhabitants included the koi fish ( similar to goldfish) and green aquatic turtles.
Just above the temple itself is the entrance to the Jindaiji Botanical Gardens, which is well worth a longer visit. When my friend was here, we also toured quite a few sightseeing spots in Tokyo, including the Sky Tree, Asakusa Temple, and a ride down the Sumida River in a boat, as well as stroll on the beaches and at the exhibits on Odaiba Seaside Park. But he found the scenic beauty of the plant life of Jindai-ji Temple and Botanical Gardens to be the most memorable.
