Kōchi Prefectural Makino Botanical Garden

Botanical garden honouring Kōchi's own father of Japanese botany

The Kōchi Prefectural Makino Botanical Garden occupies the slopes of Godaisan, adjacent to Chikurin-ji temple, and is dedicated to the life and work of Tomitaro Makino, the botanist who catalogued Japanese plant life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Makino was born in Kōchi prefecture and is a local hero of considerable stature — his face appears on regional sake bottles.

The garden covers 6 hectares of hillside and contains over 3,000 species of plants from Kōchi, Shikoku, and further afield. The greenhouse displays tropical and subtropical specimens; the outdoor areas are landscaped around streams and ponds. In spring, cherry blossoms and flowering trees put on an excellent show. The research museum at the centre of the garden documents Makino's life and his remarkable illustrated field notebooks.

Access: bus from Kōchi Station, 20 minutes, getting off at Makino Botanical Garden stop; or combined with Chikurin-ji temple next door. Open Tuesday to Sunday; entry ¥730.

things to do sight
A story
Tomitaro Makino was born near Kōchi in 1862 and spent his entire life cataloguing Japanese plants — eventually describing, naming, or reclassifying some 2,500 species. He worked largely without institutional support, funded by his wife and perpetually in debt. The government finally awarded him an honorary doctorate at age 90. He died at 94, still classifying plants.