This garden is the third largest in Japan. This is our second visit to Kenroku-en. Our first was over 15 years ago. We started in a drizzling rain and ended in torrential downpours. There were a few sun rays in between.

June-July really are the worst months to visit Japan but given my vacation schedule, June-July is preferable over December-January. Imagine this park in fall with the maples changing colors or spring  with a riot of azalea color. Maybe some day. We enjoyed the beauty of the structure of the park without the theatrical color aspect. We still love it.

We escaped the rain at the garden’s teahouse. We drank green tea and nibbled on the most beautiful tea cookies while sitting on tatami mats and admiring the garden view.

The rains became intense. So, we decided to end our visit to the garden and walked over a mile back to our hotel. Our little collapsible travel umbrellas kept our heads dry but we arrived back soaked through and through. Fortunately, it was over 80 degrees and it was like being kids again.