In Japan there is a saying: "Do not say" kekko "until I saw Nikko" - that is, "Do not talk about anything, that's fine, until I saw Nikko". This ancient city, founded in the VIII century, with a population of about 20,000 people, is located in the beautiful surroundings. Nikko surrounding forests and mountains, lakes and rivers are declared national park. The man also worked on multiplication of beauty created here a botanical garden, which contains plants in Japan and other countries.

Nikko Botanical Garden covers an area of ​​10, 5 hectares and is located in a hilly area at an altitude of 647 meters above sea level. The garden is run by the University of Tokyo, and is a branch of the Botanical Garden koishikawa created in 1902 for the study of alpine plants.

Initially, it was located near the temple Tōshō-gū, but in 1911 was moved to its present location, and in 1950 was extended to the garden summer residence of the imperial family. In the Taisho era (1879-1926) Emperor Ёsihito loved to stroll through the garden when summer time spent in Nikko.

Currently, the garden boasts over 2,200 species of plants, including 80 species of rhododendron, 10 kinds of Japanese wild cherry, more than 100 species of alpine plants - not only Japanese, but also growing in the Himalayas and Korea. To set up different types of natural growing conditions - bog gardens, rockeries (rocky gardens), gardens of ferns.

Many plants for the Botanical Garden were collected throughout the country. At the same time planting trees and shrubs look like natural forests. Here you can see many different species of maple and cherry. For example, Japanese maples grow 24 species, 22 of them grow in the Botanical Garden Nikko. In addition, there are 10 species of wild cherries. During the period of flowering and autumn these plants attract many tourists. Admiring Red maple leaves - for the Japanese is the same tradition as the holidays in honor of cherry blossom.