Every April 24, the Kochi Prefectural Makino Botanical Garden throws open its gates for free to celebrate the birthday of Tomitaro Makino (1862–1957), the self-taught genius who named more than 1,500 plant species and is revered as the father of Japanese botany. If you watched the 2023 NHK morning drama Ranman, you already know the story — a boy from rural Tosa (present-day Kochi) who fell in love with plants at five years old and never stopped.
Makino Day 2026 is the best single-day reason to visit Shikoku this spring. Here’s everything you need to know.
What Happens on Makino Day
The garden runs four special tours that are normally off-limits to the public:
- Plant Research Center Experience — walk through the lab where botanists are actively cataloguing Shikoku’s endemic species (details)
- Garden Plant Observation Tour — a guided walk focusing on whatever is in peak bloom that week (details)
- Herbarium Visit — see Makino’s own pressed specimens, some over 130 years old, in climate-controlled vaults (details)
- Makino Library Visit — browse the personal book collection of a man who reportedly spent his entire fortune on botanical texts (details)
All tours require advance registration and fill up fast — check the garden’s website as soon as dates are posted.
The Garden Itself
Sprawling across a hillside in Godaisan Park, the Makino Botanical Garden is home to roughly 3,000 species of plants. The greenhouse complex recreates tropical and arid environments, but the real draw is the outdoor collection: moss-carpeted woodland trails, a traditional Tosa farmhouse garden, and species that Makino himself documented in the wild more than a century ago.
In late April, expect to see Japanese wisteria beginning to drape over pergolas, wild azaleas coloring the hillsides, and the garden’s collection of rare mountain orchids in full display. The Makino Museum building — designed by architect Naito Hiroshi — is a stunner of wood and glass that seems to float above the canopy.
Planning Your Visit
Getting there: Fly into Kochi Ryoma Airport (KCZ), then take the airport bus to Kochi Station (~25 min). From the station, take the MY-YU bus directly to the garden entrance (~30 min). Alternatively, drive — parking is free on Makino Day.
When to arrive: Gates open at 9:00 AM. Tours are staggered through the day, but mornings are quieter. The garden closes at 5:00 PM (last entry 4:30 PM).
Budget: Normally ¥730 for adults, but free on April 24. Tours are also free but limited to ~20 people each.
Combine it with: Kochi’s famous Sunday Market runs every Sunday along Otesuji Street — if you’re staying the weekend, it’s one of the oldest and largest street markets in Japan (300+ years). Don’t leave Kochi without trying katsuo no tataki (seared bonito) at Hirome Market.
Accommodation tip: Book early. Kochi isn’t a huge tourist city, and Makino Day plus weekend visitors can fill up the limited hotel stock around the station.
Why Makino Matters
Tomitaro Makino never earned a university degree. He taught himself taxonomy from Dutch and German texts, sold his family’s sake brewery to fund fieldwork, and was repeatedly dismissed by the academic establishment. Yet he persisted for 78 years of research, publishing the definitive Illustrated Flora of Japan and giving scientific names to cherry varieties, camellias, and grasses that every Japanese person knows. The garden in his hometown is not just a memorial — it’s a living continuation of his life’s work.
For plant lovers, botany enthusiasts, or anyone looking for a reason to explore Shikoku beyond the pilgrimage trail, Makino Day is an unmissable experience.
Image: Kochi Prefectural Makino Botanical Garden, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
