There are lots of parks and gardens throughout Tokyo and even in December they were a riot of colour. The classic time to visit is the spring when each park explodes in cherry blossom. The gardens of the Imperial Palace were closed the day we visited (so we went window shopping) but Gyoen Park and Shinjuku Park were both open on the sunny days we stopped by. In the middle of one of the most hectic cities on earth were people strolling, sketching, meditating and taking pictures of leaves: