First of all, as mentioned above, Japan is very special in terms of its nature, as it has a unique feature for every season that can only be witnessed to its full glory in this particular country. This magnificent garden exploits that aesthetic potential to the fullest.

The Japanese spring is famed for its sakura, the pink flowers that bring cherry trees into life every year around April. People will gather any night of the week to indulge in sake-drinking under the blossom.

As spring moves into summer, the weather will get persistenly sunnier until a peak in August, when you might find the climate a little heavy and opressively humid. However, nature is at its fullest, and there is vivid beauty to enjoy wherever you venture. Sit by the pond or climb to the top of hill adjacent to it for a beautiful view.

Another spectacular time for garden sightseeing in Japan is around October, when the summer heat fades and leaves turn into a rainbow of burning reds and oranges. Throngs of tourists and locals alike will crowd the most notorious spots for leaf-viewing in the autumn, and though it is highly recommended that you make the most of this season, you may well find it difficult to do so in peace. In terms of lanscape and actual sights, Kenrokuen is an ideal place to witness this phenomenon, but beware of the most popular visiting times.

Surprisingly, winter is also very much a worthwhile season to view gardens, and its cool, crisp beauty will not be lost on you if you choose to make your way to Kenrokuen in the chillier months. In fact, being from Finland, I must say I appreciated the snow-covered fir branches and frozen streams, and found them quite inspiring. In winter, supports called yuki-tsuri, yuki meaning snow, are attached to the branches of the fir trees to prevent them splintering off under the weight of the accumulating flakes, and the visual effect is that of an irregular kind of symmetry, sucessfully combining the natural and the artificial. The ability to do this is a typical Japanese quality -- only one of the reasons it merits a look if you're up for a dose of culture.

You will also find workers wearing blue outfits and those traditional hats that look like flattened cones, which I always think are quite amusing, and you can buy all kinds of tourist stuff as well as mochi balls (get yourself some, I love those things). If you want to eat them in the shop they will not let you do so standing up, and you'll get complimentary green tea to go with it.

There is an entry fee of a few hundred yen to the gardens, but nothing that will render you bankrupt.