Mizumoto Park

Mizumoto Park in Tokyo's outer Katsushika ward covers more than 90 hectares and is the capital's largest true water park, opened in 1965. Unlike most Tokyo parks, open water defines the place: a long oxbow of the Naka River runs through, lined with reed belts, rows of old poplars and broad picnic lawns. The park is famous for its roughly 20,000 irises in around a hundred varieties, peaking in early June, and for vast lotus ponds in midsummer. Bird-watchers regularly spot kingfishers and various herons; families come for paddle boats and play meadows. Far from central Tokyo, which means hardly any tourists.