is a '' tsukiyama''

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...

located within in the eastern part of the city of

Kumamoto is the capital Cities of Japan, city of Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 738,907 and a population density of 1,893 people per km2. The total area is 390.32 km2. had a populat ...

Kumamoto Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Kyūshū. Kumamoto Prefecture has a population of 1,748,134 () and has a geographic area of . Kumamoto Prefecture borders Fukuoka Prefecture to the north, Ōita Prefecture t ...

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 ...

. It was built during the

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 ...

by the

Hosokawa clan The is a Japanese samurai kin group or Japanese clan, clan. The clan descends from the Seiwa Genji, a branch of the Minamoto clan, and ultimately from Emperor Seiwa, through the Ashikaga clan. It produced many prominent officials in the Ashikaga ...

, the ''

daimyō were powerful Japanese magnates, feudal lords who, from the 10th century to the early Meiji era, Meiji period in the middle 19th century, ruled most of Japan from their vast hereditary land holdings. They were subordinate to the shogun and no ...

'' of

Kumamoto Domain The , which was in existence from 1600 to 1871, had a significant influence in the region. Initially, it controlled its vast territory of 520,000 koku, which later expanded to 540,000 koku after the division of the 8th generation territory and the e ...

. It is commonly known as "Suizenji Park". Its area is approximately 73,000 square meters. The garden features an artificial hill which is said to be modeled after

Mount Fuji is an active stratovolcano located on the Japanese island of Honshu, with a summit elevation of . It is the highest mountain in Japan, the second-highest volcano on any Asian island (after Mount Kerinci on the Indonesian island of Sumatra), a ...

. The gardens were designated a National Place of Scenic Beauty and a National Historic Site in 1929.

Overview

The garden began as a ''

chashitsu ''Chashitsu'' (, "tea room") in Japanese tradition is an architectural space designed to be used for Japanese tea ceremony, tea ceremony (''chanoyu'') gatherings. The architectural style that developed for ''chashitsu'' is referred to as the '' ...

'' for the

Japanese tea ceremony The Japanese tea ceremony (known as or lit. 'Hot water for tea') is a Culture of Japan, Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of , powdered green tea, the procedure of which is called . The term "Japa ...

built around 1636 by Hosokawa Tadatoshi, the first ''daimyō'' of Kumamoto, on the grounds of the Zen temple of Suizen-ji. Hosokawa selected this site because of its spring-fed pond, the clean water of which was excellent for tea. A monk named Gentaku was part of the retinue of Hosokawa Tadatoshi when he entered

Higo Province was an old province of Japan in the area that is today Kumamoto Prefecture on the island of Kyūshū. It was sometimes called , with Hizen Province. Higo bordered on Chikugo, Bungo, Hyūga, Ōsumi, and Satsuma Provinces. History The cas ...

, and he was given this land with a natural spring of water from

Mount Aso or Aso Volcano is the largest active volcano in Japan and among the largest in the world. Common use relates often only to the somma volcano in the centre of Aso Caldera. It stands in Aso Kujū National Park in Kumamoto Prefecture, on the i ...

to construct a temple; however the temple was abandoned around after Gentaku returned to his native Bungo Province and its land reverted to Kumamoto Domain. During the tenure of Hosokawa Tsunatoshi, the garden was reconstructed into a "strolling garden" with pathways and its artificial hill. It was named "Seishu-en" around this time, after a line from a poem by Tao Yuanming. Follwong the

Meiji restoration The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored Imperial House of Japan, imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Althoug ...

, the garden became property of the central government, but the tea house was burned down and the garden laid waste by the 1877

Satsuma rebellion The Satsuma Rebellion, also known as the , was a revolt of disaffected samurai against the new imperial government of the Empire of Japan, nine years into the Meiji era. Its name comes from the Satsuma Domain, which had been influential in ...

. A group of former retainers of Kumamoto Domain purchased the ruins, and erected a

Shinto shrine A Stuart D. B. Picken, 1994. p. xxiii is a structure whose main purpose is to house ("enshrine") one or more kami, , the deities of the Shinto religion. The Also called the . is where a shrine's patron is or are enshrined.Iwanami Japanese dic ...

, the Izumi Shrine, which was dedicated to the spirits of the Hosokawa clan. The thatched ''Kokin-Denju-no-Ma'' teahouse now on the site was originally a structure in

Kyoto Imperial Palace The is the former palace of the Emperor of Japan, located in Kamigyō-ku, Kyoto, Japan. Since the Meiji Restoration in 1869, the Emperors have resided at the Tokyo Imperial Palace, while the preservation of the Kyoto Imperial Palace was ordered ...

, and was relocated here in 1912.

Suizenji Park

Suizenji Kōen features miniature landscapes, a temple, and small lakes containing large koi. It is a short

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

ride from the city. Nearby, there are souvenir and snack shops.

Gallery

File:697 Suizenji Pond.JPG, The pond File:Kumamoto Suizenji-jojuen08n4272.jpg, The pond File:Kumamoto Suizenji-jojuen09n4272.jpg, The ''Kokin-Denju-no-Ma'' teahouse File:Kumamoto Suizenji-jojuen03n4272.jpg, Replica of Mount Fuji File:Kumamoto Suizenji-jojuen05n4272.jpg, An arched bridge File:Kumamoto Suizenji-jojuen06n4272.jpg, Replica of Mount Fuji File:Kumamoto Suizenji-jojuen17n4272.jpg, Izumi Shrine File:Suizenji Carp.JPG, A large carp in the park File:Statue of Hosokawa Tadatoshi.jpg, Statue of Hosokawa Tadatoshi File:Suizen-ji Garden, Kumamoto.jpg, alt=Suizen-ji Japanese Pine, Japanese pine on a miniature island File: Suizenji_jojuen_garden.jpg , in Spring time

Notes

References

*Explore Japan
Suizenji Garden
accessed on August 31, 2009 *

External links