In Japan there is a saying: "don't say "kekko" until you have seen Nikko" - i.e., "don't talk about something that is great until you have seen Nikko". This ancient city, founded in the VIII century, with a population of about 20 thousand people, surrounded by beautiful nature. Surrounding Nikko forests and mountains, lakes and rivers has been declared a National Park. People also worked on the multiplication of beauty, creating here a Botanical garden, which contains plants of Japan and other countries.

Botanical garden Nikko covers an area of 10, 5 hectares and is situated in a hilly area at an altitude of 647 metres above sea level. The garden is administered by the University of Tokyo and is a branch of the Koishikawa Botanical garden, created in 1902 for the study of Alpine plants.

Originally it was located near the temple Tosya-GU, but in 1911 was moved to its present location, and in 1950 was extended by the garden of the summer residence of the Imperial family. In the era of Taisho (1879-1926), the Emperor of Nihito loved to stroll through the garden when the spent summer time in Nikko.

Currently in the garden there are over 2,200 species of plants, including 80 species of rhododendrons, 10 species of Japanese cherry, more than 100 species of Alpine plants – not only Japanese, but also growing in the Himalayas and Korea. For various kinds of created natural growing conditions – bog gardens, rockeries (stony gardens), gardens of ferns.

Many plants for the Botanical garden were collected throughout the country. When planting trees and shrubs look like natural forests. Here you can see many different species of maple and cherry. For example, in Japan grow 24 species of maples, 22 of them are growing in the Botanical garden Nikko. In addition, there are 10 species of wild cherry. During flowering and in autumn these plants attract many tourists. Admire the red leaves of the maples – Japanese the same tradition as the holidays in honor of the cherry blossom.