Image Credit: EyeEm Mobile GmbH
Once you get to know them, it’s easy to see why people treat koi like royalty. These fish can live up to 200 years and are bred for beauty, elegance and lineage with the same level of obsession usually reserved for racehorses or fine art.
The very best koi—those with perfect color, symmetry and movement— can fetch jaw-dropping prices. The most expensive koi ever was a red-and-white stunner named S Legend, who went for a casual $1.8 million USD.
Credit: Margarita Kharkova
What makes koi even more remarkable is that their beauty is
not natural—it’s human-made. Originally descended from ordinary black carp (magoi), koi began their transformation over 200 years ago in the rice paddies of Niigata. Farmers noticed occasional color mutations and, through careful selection and generations of breeding, those flashes of red, white and gold were refined into the koi we see today. But here’s the catch: Koi beauty is fragile. If left to breed freely in the wild for just a few generations, they will revert to their ancestral form— drab, muddy-colored carp. Their splendor depends entirely on human attention and curation, which makes every prize koi a quiet collaboration between nature and nurture.
You don’t need a private pond or museum access to enjoy them. Tokyo is full of koi—you just have to know where to look. From secret shrine pools to little streams on a shopping street, here are the most unexpectedly beautiful places to spot koi in the city. The best spots aren’t just about the fish—they’re about the quiet, the calm and the chance to sit and actually enjoy watching them swim, undisturbed.
Koi Appreciation Guide
Color clarity: clean, vibrant hues (reds should be deep, whites should look like porcelain)
Symmetry: the pattern should feel balanced from nose to tail
Body shape: a thick, smooth, torpedo-like form
Movement: confident, graceful swimming (not frantic or sluggish)
Presence: koi should have charisma, their bodies gliding with quiet authority
Behavior: Koi should be curious, some will even swim up and beg for food like golden retrievers
with fins
Beauty in koi is both objective and emotional. While judges look for symmetry and structure, many koi keepers fall in love with the quirky one—the odd patch, the shy swimmer, the underdog.
Where to find them?
1. Asakura Museum of Sculpture (Yanaka)
✨Vibe: Serene garden meets ghost of Meiji artists | 🐟 Fish rating: ★★★★☆ | 🍘 Feeding: No
Tucked behind a sleepy side street in historic Yanaka, this low-key museum’s garden is quietly enchanting. Koi glide through shaded ponds surrounded by weathered stone lanterns and weeping trees. Many of the fish here are pale orange and cream, like faded watercolors. The atmosphere is as unrushed and serene as their swimming. Nearest station: Nippori or Sendagi
Entry: Small fee (~¥500)
2. Fuchu-no-Mori Park Koi Pond (Fuchu)
✨Vibe: Suburban zen with surprise drama | 🐟 Fish rating: ★★★★★ | 🍘 Feeding: Yes
In the middle of a well-designed park in Fuchu lies one of Tokyo’s prettiest koi ponds. The setting is oddly dramatic: manicured trees, a winding bridge, and glittering gold koi. Kids (and me), feed them with pellets sold nearby, and the koi absolutely lose it. Bring coins.
Nearest station: Higashi-Fuchu
Entry: Free
3. Koishikawa Korakuen Garden (Iidabashi)
✨Vibe: Time-traveling Edo elegance | 🐟 Fish rating: ★★★★☆ | 🍘 Feeding: No (but gorgeous)
One of Tokyo’s oldest and most beautiful gardens, Koishikawa Korakuen, has a large koi pond that is such a showstopper it deserves mention. Maple trees, bridges and mossy stones frame the pond.
Nearest station: Iidabashi or Korakuen
Entry: ¥300
4. Kanda Myojin Shrine’s Secret Pond (Ochanomizu)
✨Vibe: Anime shrine meets secret koi corner | 🐟 Fish rating: ★★★☆☆ | 🍘 Feeding: No
Kanda Myojin is famous for tech blessings and anime fans, but behind the shrine’s main building, there’s a weirdly under-the-radar koi pond. The water’s dark, the fish are moody (a lot of big black ones and smaller colorful ones), but the shrine’s energy adds a cool contrast. There’s a vending machine just steps away, so you can sip a canned coffee while communing with the koi and the gods. A peaceful glitch in the matrix.
Nearest station: Ochanomizu or Suehirocho
Entry: Free
5. Koi Stream in Sugamo Jizo-Dori Shopping Street (Sugamo)
✨Vibe: Grandma-core meets koi | 🐟 Fish rating: ★★★☆☆ | 🍘 Feeding: Yes-ish
Sugamo Jizo-Dori is known as “Harajuku for Grandmas,” a charming shopping street in northern Tokyo that caters mostly to elderly customers. Through it, near Togenuki Jizo Koganji, runs a skinny little artificial stream with koi. It’s kitsch, it’s chaotic, it’s oddly joyful. Some shopkeepers may toss breadcrumbs in. It’s small, very low-key, and super easy to miss unless you’re looking for it—but that’s part of the weird charm.
Nearest station: Sugamo
Entry: Free
6. Hotel Gajoen Tokyo (Meguro)
✨Vibe: Opulence with royal koi | 🐟 Fish rating: ★★★★★ | 🍘 Feeding: No
Gajoen’s public areas include a koi pond so ornate it feels like a set piece. Set by a dramatic waterfall, the whole vibe is surreal luxury. You can’t feed them, but you’ll get lost watching them swirl under the falling water.
Nearest station: Meguro
Entry: Free in the lobby area
7. Under the Escalator at Kitte Marunouchi (Tokyo Station)
✨Vibe: Business koi on their lunch break | 🐟 Fish rating: ★★☆☆☆ | 🍘 Feeding: No, but…they’re trying
There’s a small glass koi tank nestled under the escalators in Kitte, a sleek mall near Tokyo Station. There’s something delightful about seeing them here—fat, flashy fish beneath office workers. They’re part of a small indoor garden exhibit and while it’s not exactly relaxing, the oddness of their location is part of the charm.
Nearest station: Tokyo
Entry: Free (and a little existential)
Credit: Fotofantastika
If You Must: The Classic Koi Spots
Not every koi-viewing experience in Tokyo needs to be a secret garden moment—but if you’re already out and about, these popular spots can scratch that fish itch (even if they don’t hit full koi-core serenity).
✨Vibe: Predictable but pleasant | 🐟 Fish rating: ★★★☆☆ | 🍘 Feeding: Not allowed, just admired
Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden (Shinjuku)
It’s peaceful, it’s giant and yes—the koi in the central pond are absolutely massive. They gather under the little bridge like a crowd at a food truck festival, which is weirdly endearing. But here’s the thing: most of them are just solid black. No fiery reds, no painterly whites—just dark, shadowy units swirling around like low-key pond bouncers. Still, it’s worth a look if you’re already picnicking or flower-spotting.
Nearest station: Shinjuku-gyoenmae or Sendagaya
Entry: ¥500
Feeding: Not allowed
Shibamata Taishakuten Temple Pond (Katsushika)
This temple is beautiful, and the old-school shopping street leading up to it is pure retro charm. But the little koi pond inside the garden? It’s always crowded. People with ice cream, people with cameras, people walking directly into your peaceful koi moment. The fish are beautiful, sure, but the vibe gets a little frantic. If you’re after tranquility, come right when it opens—or just skip and buy rice crackers on the street instead.
Nearest station: Shibamata Station
Entry: ¥400 (for the garden with koi)
Feeding: Not allowed
Bonus Trip: Gujo Hachiman–The Koi Town of Your Dreams
✨Vibe: Waterborne fairytale | 🐟 Fish rating: ★★★★★★★ | 🍘 Feeding: Yes (they expect it)
It’s not Tokyo, but if koi had a spiritual hometown, Gujo Hachiman would be it. Tucked in the mountains of Gifu Prefecture, this town is stitched together by canals and waterways that wind through traditional houses, temples, and stone bridges. And in nearly every one? Koi. Bright, fat, unapologetically fabulous koi.
They swim beside shopfronts, peek out under bridges, and seem to follow you down alleyways like slow-moving aquatic tour guides. Some stores even leave out little bags of fish food with honesty boxes. The koi here aren’t just decorative—they’re part of the town’s heartbeat.
The water is so clean that you can dip your feet into the canals, wave to koi cruising past your ankles, and then stroll into a soba shop five feet away. It’s surreal, magical, and worth a day trip.
How to get there: Take a train to Gifu, then transfer to Gujo-Hachiman Station via bus (or drive—it’s a scenic road trip).
Best time to go: Summer, when the town also hosts Gujo Odori, an all-night traditional dance festival.
For further summer reads, learn about Tokyo’s lost connection to the water here:
Why was Tokyo dubbed “Venice of the East”?
Or learn how to wear and style a Yukata here:
How to Wear and Style a Summer Yukata
