# Where to Watch The Garden of Words

**The Garden of Words streams on Netflix and HIDIVE, and it's the most exquisitely rendered rain you'll ever see in animation: a short, hushed film about a teenage aspiring shoemaker and an older woman who keep meeting in a Tokyo garden on rainy mornings. Shinkai in miniature, and maybe his most beautiful.**

## Where to Watch

- [HIDIVE](https://www.hidive.com/playlist/20440)
- [Netflix](https://www.netflix.com/title/70291121)

Netflix and HIDIVE both stream it. HIDIVE leans toward the subtitled experience longtime anime fans love, while Netflix is the easy mainstream option. It runs under an hour, so it pairs perfectly with a second Shinkai short.

## Synopsis

Takao, a fifteen-year-old who dreams of designing shoes, skips his morning classes whenever it rains to sketch in a quiet garden pavilion. There he keeps encountering Yukari, a poised but troubled woman nursing wounds she won't explain. Across a rainy season they build a fragile, almost wordless intimacy, two lonely people meeting in a green pocket of the city, until the weather clears and the truth of who she is threatens to end it.

## Fast Facts

- **Format:** MOVIE
- **Episodes:** 1
- **Premiered:** 2013
- **Studio:** comix wave films inc.
- **Score:** 7.5

## If You Liked This

- **[5 Centimeters per Second](https://hozuna.com/anime/5-centimeters-per-second)** — 5 Centimeters per Second is the obvious next watch: the same short-film format and the same gorgeous melancholy about distance and longing.
- **[Weathering With You](https://hozuna.com/anime/weathering-with-you)** — Weathering With You expands Shinkai's rain motif into a full-length, city-spanning romance.
- **[Your Name](https://hozuna.com/anime/your-name)** — Your Name is the crowd-pleasing masterpiece that made Shinkai a household name.
- **[Frieren: Beyond Journey's End](https://hozuna.com/anime/frieren-beyond-journey-s-end)** — 
- **[Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc](https://hozuna.com/anime/chainsaw-man-reze-arc)** — 
- **[Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood](https://hozuna.com/anime/fullmetal-alchemist-brotherhood)** — 
- **[Re:Zero Season 4](https://hozuna.com/anime/re-zero-season-4)** — 
- **[Attack on Titan Season 3 Part 2](https://hozuna.com/anime/attack-on-titan-season-3-part-2)** — 

## FAQ

### Where can I watch The Garden of Words?

It streams on Netflix and HIDIVE, subbed and dubbed.

### How long is The Garden of Words?

It's a short feature film, running under an hour.

### Do I need to watch other Shinkai films first?

No. It stands completely on its own and works as a great introduction to his style.