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is a traditional Japanese-style garden in Naka
Ward Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
,
Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...
,
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, which opened in 1906.Yokohama Sankei Garden
, Sankei-en's official site accessed on November 3, 2009 (in Japanese)
Sankei-en was designed and built by (1868–1939), known by the
pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...
Sankei Hara, who was a
silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...
trader. Almost all of its buildings are historically significant structures bought by Hara himself in locations all over the country, among them
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
,
Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
,
Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...
,
Gifu Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,910,511 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...
, and
Wakayama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kansai region of Honshu. Wakayama Prefecture has a population of 876,030 () and a geographic area of . Wakayama Prefecture borders Osaka Prefecture to the north, and Mie Prefecture and Nara Prefecture to ...
. Ten have been declared Important Cultural Property, and three more are Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan designated by the City of Yokohama. Badly damaged during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, the garden was donated in 1953 to the City of Yokohama, which entrusted it to the . Sankei-en was then restored almost to its pre-war condition.


Features

Sankei-en has a total surface of 175 thousand square meters and features ponds, streams, and undulating paths designed by Sankei Hara himself, plus many historic buildings, such as , originally constructed in
Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
in 1457 and relocated in 1914, and the , originally the private residence of the Yanohara family. Work on the garden started in 1902 and ended in 1908, two years after it was opened to the public. During Hara's own lifetime, the place became an aggregation point for
Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...
artists.
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
caused great damage to the buildings. In 1953 the garden was donated by the Hara family to the City of Yokohama, which created the Sankeien Hoshōkai Foundation for its repair and maintenance. The Foundation started the restoration in 1953 and, five years later, the garden was back almost to its original form and reopened to the public. The Japanese government has designated ten structures in Sankei-en as Important Cultural Properties, while three more are Tangible Cultural Properties designated by the City of Yokohama. The garden is popular for its
cherry A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet '' Prunus avium'' and the sour '' Prunus cerasus''. The na ...
blossoms, ''
ume ''Prunus mume'', the Chinese plum or Japanese apricot, is a tree species in the family Rosaceae. Along with bamboo, the plant is intimately associated with art, literature, and everyday life in China, from where it was then introduced to Kor ...
'' blossoms, and the changing leaves in autumn.


Kakushōkaku

Next to the entrance, the was formerly the private residence of the Hara family. Today it can be rented by the public and used for meetings and parties. It is one of the three buildings on the premises designated as Tangible Cultural Properties by the City of Yokohama. Only during the summer, the Kakushōkaku is open to the public.


Sankei Memorial

Located immediately after the Kakushōkaku, the was built to introduce the public to the garden and its creator through exhibits, images and works of art. A Gifu Prefecture native, Hara was the eldest son of Yanaizuchō village's headman. From childhood he liked and studied the fine arts,
Sinology Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilization p ...
and poetry, finally beginning formal studies in 1885 in what is now
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
's
Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...
. After graduation, he became a teacher at the Atomi School for Girls. Born Aoki, he changed it later after marrying one of his students and being adopted by her family. He became the head of the family trading business and was very successful. After moving to Sankei-en's present location in Honmoku, he started collecting old buildings, rebuilding them in his garden. He then decided to open the garden to the public for free in 1906.


Outer Garden

The Outer Garden, that is, the area next to the Main Pond, was the first part of the garden to open to the public in 1906. The buildings it contains are the former Tōmyō-ji three-storied pagoda, a tea room called , a tea hut called , and . Tōmyō-ji's former main hall (Important National Cultural Property) was brought here from Kyoto and is an example of
Muromachi period The , also known as the , is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate ( or ), which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi ...
(1336–1557) architecture. Bought in 1988, it was completely restored with intensive work of restoration and reconstruction that lasted five years. Tōmyō-ji's former three-storied pagoda (Important National Cultural Property) is visible from any point of the garden and is its symbol. It was moved to Sankei-en in 1914. Tōkei-ji's former ''butsuden'' (Important National Cultural Property) used to be the main hall of a
Rinzai The Rinzai school (, zh, t=臨濟宗, s=临济宗, p=Línjì zōng), named after Linji Yixuan (Romaji: Rinzai Gigen, died 866 CE) is one of three sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism, along with Sōtō and Ōbaku. The Chinese Linji school of ...
Zen Zen (; from Chinese: ''Chán''; in Korean: ''Sŏn'', and Vietnamese: ''Thiền'') is a Mahayana Buddhist tradition that developed in China during the Tang dynasty by blending Indian Mahayana Buddhism, particularly Yogacara and Madhyamaka phil ...
temple in Kamakura. Its structure and name are typical of that sect. It was bought and moved to Sankei-en in 1907.


Former Yanohara House

The (Important National Cultural Property) used to be the private home of an
Edo period The , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...
(1603–1868) wealthy family, the Yanohara. It is the only building whose interior is open to the public all year. It was brought here from
Gifu Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,910,511 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture ...
's Shirakawago, an area listed among the
World Heritage World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
sites. The house contains the original hearth, bathroom and kitchen used by the Yanohara. The second floor houses an exhibition of Japanese folk articles.


Inner Garden

The Inner Garden, north of the Main Pond, was opened to the public in 1958, and was until then the Hara family's private garden. Its buildings are the (Tangible Cultural Property), the (Tangible Cultural Property), the , , the , the , the , the , the , and the Renge-in. Only during the summer, the Rinshunkaku and the Hakuun-tei are open to the public. Of particular value is the Rinshunkaku (Important National Cultural Property, see photo below), formerly belonging to the Kii House of Tokugawa. It is often compared in beauty to the World famous
Katsura Imperial Villa The is an Imperial residence with associated gardens and outbuildings in the western suburbs of Kyoto, Japan. Located on the western bank of the Katsura River in Katsura, Nishikyō-ku, the Villa is 8km distant from the main Kyoto Imperial P ...
in Kyoto. Originally the summer residence of Tokugawa Yorinobu, the first head of the Kii House, it used to stand in Iwade, Wakayama prefecture. Acquired by Hara in 1906, it was rebuilt over a period of three years between 1915 and 1917. Divided in three sections, it was decorated by famous artists Kanō Tanyū and Kanō Yasunobu. The transoms between pavilions are decorated with sculpted waves (first pavilion) and special paper containing poetry (second pavilion). The third pavilion's transom is decorated with real
gagaku is a type of Japanese classical music that was historically used for imperial court music and dances. was developed as court music of the Kyoto Imperial Palace, and its near-current form was established in the Heian period (794–1185) arou ...
instruments like '' shō'' and flutes. The Gekkaden (Important National Cultural Property) was built in 1603 by Ieyasu, the first of the Tokugawa shōguns within Kyoto's
Fushimi Castle , also known as or Fushimi-Momoyama Castle, is a Japanese castle located in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Fushimi Ward, Kyoto. Fushimi Castle was constructed from 1592 to 1594 by Toyotomi Hideyoshi at the end of the Sengoku period as his retirement residen ...
. It was bought in 1918 together with the Shunsōro and moved to Sankei-en. Hara then connected it to a pavilion he built, the Kinmokutsu. The paintings on the room partitions are attributed to Momoyama period artist Kaihō Yūshō. The Gekkaden can be rented by the public. The Tenju-in (Important National Cultural Property) was originally a Jizō-dō in Kita-Kamakura near the great
Kenchō-ji Kenchō-ji (建長寺) is a Rinzai Zen temple in Kamakura, Kanagawa, Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, which ranks first among Kamakura's so-called Five Great Zen Temples (the ''Kamakura Gozan'') and is the oldest Zen training monastery in Jap ...
Zen temple and was bought in 1916. Tenju-in was Hara's , the temple which enshrined his tutelary gods. Tenzui-ji's former Jutō Ōi-dōA ''jutō'' is a kind of
stupa In Buddhism, a stupa (, ) is a domed hemispherical structure containing several types of sacred relics, including images, statues, metals, and '' śarīra''—the remains of Buddhist monks or nuns. It is used as a place of pilgrimage and m ...
built while the person that will rest in it is still alive. An '' Ōi-dō'' is a hall housing either protects or hides something precious, in this case a stupa.
(Important National Cultural Property, see image above) was built in 1591 by
Toyotomi Hideyoshi , otherwise known as and , was a Japanese samurai and ''daimyō'' (feudal lord) of the late Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods and regarded as the second "Great Unifier" of Japan.Richard Holmes, The World Atlas of Warfare: ...
as a resting place for his mother, and is one of the few extant buildings attributable with certainty to him. The construction of the Chōshūkaku (Important National Cultural Property, see photo below) is traditionally attributed to Iemitsu, third of the Tokugawa shōguns. The pavilion is open to the public in spring and in November for the traditional viewing of the autumn colors. The Shunsōro (Important National Cultural Property) is a tea room believed to have been built for
Oda Urakusai was a Japanese daimyō and a brother of Oda Nobunaga who lived from the late Sengoku period through the early Edo period. Also known as or , the Tokyo neighborhood Yūrakuchō is named for him. Nagamasu Japanese Christians, converted to C ...
, brother of the more famous
Oda Nobunaga was a Japanese ''daimyō'' and one of the leading figures of the Sengoku period, Sengoku and Azuchi-Momoyama periods. He was the and regarded as the first "Great Unifier" of Japan. He is sometimes referred as the "Demon Daimyō" and "Demo ...
. Urakusai was a well-known practitioner of the
tea ceremony Tea ceremony is a ritualized practice of making and serving tea (茶 ''cha'') in East Asia practiced in the Sinosphere. The original term from China (), literally translated as either "''way of tea''", "''etiquette for tea or tea rite''",Heiss, M ...
.


Gallery

Image:Sankeien Kakushokaku.jpg, The Kakushokaku Image:Sankeien Choshukaku.jpg, The Chōshūkaku Image:Sankeien Old Yanohara House Front.jpg, The Old Yanohara House Image:Rinshunkaku.JPG, Rinshunkaku File:Sankeien 2010 Teisha bridge.jpg, Autumn foliage File:Sankei-en - Kanagawa - Sept 5 2021 various 00 07 18 406000.jpeg,
Matcha is a finely ground powder of green tea specially processed from shade-grown tea leaves. Shade growing gives matcha its characteristic bright green color and strong umami flavor. Matcha is typically consumed suspended in hot water. Matcha ori ...
and dango File:Sankei-En - panoramio - Koichi Shibata.jpg, The pagoda in spring File:Sankei-en - various scenes - Sept 5 2021.webm, A few scenes from the garden in late summer, 2021


See also

* Ōzone Oshitayashiki *
Katsura Imperial Villa The is an Imperial residence with associated gardens and outbuildings in the western suburbs of Kyoto, Japan. Located on the western bank of the Katsura River in Katsura, Nishikyō-ku, the Villa is 8km distant from the main Kyoto Imperial P ...
*
Ma (negative space) is a Japanese concept of negative space, and a Japanese reading of the Sino-Japanese character . ''Ma'' in Japanese culture In modern interpretations of traditional Japanese arts and culture, is an artistic interpretation of an empty spa ...
* Seven Horticultural Wonders of the World


References


External links


Photo gallery

Pamphlet in English
(pdf) *



{{Authority control Naka-ku, Yokohama Geography of Yokohama Hanami spots of Japan Open-air museums in Japan Gardens in Kanagawa Prefecture Parks and gardens in Yokohama