Modernization in the Conversion of Castle Sites to Parks As Seen in the Park Designs of Nagaoka Yasuhei and Honda Seiroku

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Modernization in the Conversion of Castle Sites to Parks as Seen in the Park Designs of Nagaoka Yasuhei and Honda Seiroku

Nonaka Katsutoshi *

Abstract This study aims to elucidate the nature of the conversions of castle sites to public parks in modern times, based on specific park designs of two landscape gardeners, Nagaoka Yasuhei and Honda Seiroku. The study covers four parks created on castle sites: Senshu Park (designed in 1896, Kubota Castle site) and Iwate Park (designed in 1906, Morioka Castle site), both of which were designed by Nagaoka; and Tokushima Park (designed in 1905, Tokushima Castle site) and Wakayama Park (designed in 1915, Wakayama Castle site), which were designed by Honda. Considering the timing and circumstances of the conversions, it can be seen that castle site parks have aspects of commemoration as well as expressing the relationship with the state and historical regional characteristics. The more recent the park design, the more destruction of the remaining earthworks and fortifications it involves. Moreover, there is neither evidence that designers referred to archival records of space or uses of space in pre-modern times on the sites nor of any relationship between park design details and such records or uses. At Senshu Park and Iwate Park, both of which were designed comparatively early, destruction of earthworks and fortifications was limited. The fact that each project was implemented faithfully in accordance with its original design means that such designs were accepted by the bodies implementing the projects. At Tokushima Park the layout of the facilities was changed from the original design. The project to improve Wakayama Park brought controversy because it entailed some destruction of the historic scenic beauty at the site. The project proceeded with the objectionable portion of the original design omitted. In the 1910s, with social modernism on the rise, there was a tide of opinion in favor of the preservation of historic sites. In this context there was a debate over whether to accept or reject modernization involving the destruction of historic sites.

Keywords: Park design, Ruins of castle, Historic scenic beauty, Nagaoka Yasuhei, Honda Seiroku, Modernization

1. Introduction 1.1 Background and Purpose Public parks in Japan represent modern land use. An official of the Home Ministry wrote about the circumstances of public parks in Japan in the 1910s, noting that many of them were constructed to open to the public such locations as castle sites, grounds of temples or shrines, places of scenic beauty, or historic sites.1) According to a survey by the Home Ministry in 1919, there were 631 public parks in Japan. Conversions of castle sites numbered 88 (13.9%); conversions of temples or shrines 50 (7.9%); conversions of places of scenic beauty 74 (11.7%); and conversions of other historic sites 53 (8.4%).2) Thus, there was a process whereby historic places inherited from pre-modern times were converted into public parks, a modern use of land. Also, a study in 1932 identified parks as the most suitable land use for castle sites in particular.3) * Faculty of Art and Design, University of Tsukuba, [email protected]

Looking at castle sites in modern times, many castle structures were destroyed at the time of the Meiji restoration. Each castle site was a vast open space in an urban area. Converting such a site into a park is an act of actively opening the closed space to the public. Not a small share of the historic scenic beauty inherited from the feudal period is located in castle sites. Therefore, conversion of such sites into parks clearly shows the transformation of land use from pre-modern to modern times. In other words, reviewing how the historic scenic beauty was handled in the course of conversion of castle sites to parks enables us to read one aspect of the modernity embodied in a park. Drawings and design concept documents of those days, in particular, enable us to analyze the intentions behind the building of such parks. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to elucidate the nature of modernization embodied in castle site parks by analyzing specific designs for converting castle sites into parks in early modern times. 1.2 Literature Review At present the designers whose drawings for castle site parks we are able to verify are Nagaoka Yasuhei and Honda Seiroku, each of whom was a representative modern landscape gardener of Japan. They were involved in designing or planning improvements of parks in various places in Japan in early modern times, in the process of which park design specialists established themselves. Nagaoka Yasuhei (1842-1925) was engaged exclusively in designing or planning improvements of public parks as an employee of the Tokyo Prefectural Office (Tokyo fuchō).4) Outside Tokyo, his first design was a park for the site of Kubota Castle in 1896. After that, he received a number of requests to design parks in places such as Hiroshima. Especially after designing a park for the site of Morioka castle in 1906, more requests came to him from various places, leading him to play an active role across the country.5) Nagaoka’s designs basically adopted natural-style landscape gardening, and his approach to design is recognized as not firmly excluding Western or modern elements.6) In addition, his designs are valued as open and fair-minded, and attentive to park users. His designs also include detailed descriptions of plants in particular, which can be said to indicate the significance of the presence of plants in public parks.7) Although there is a study making clear the features of descriptions in Nagaoka's drawings,8) it doesn't analyze his design intentions or any relationship between his drawings and later improvements. There is also a study which reviews Nagaoka’s philosophy of park design based on his statements and the present state of the parks he designed,9)10) but it doesn’t analyze specific park designs. Honda Seiroku (1866-1952), while serving as a professor at Tokyo Imperial University, engaged in new construction and improvement of parks all over Japan, starting with Hibiya Park, the first instance of a Western-style park in Japan.11) Honda’s designs are valued as satisfying both the requests of policymakers to embody the concept of civilization and enlightenment and those of ordinary people to create a Japanese atmosphere, considering calls to construct Western-style parks combining Japanese spirit and Western learning.12) It is also noted that in creating designs he focuses on people’s experience of moving about and so begins with the design of roads or transportation.13) There are piles of studies which focus on Hibiya Park as designed by Honda.14)15)16) There are few studies, however, that proceed with systematic analysis based on the details of Honda’s designs or the improvements actually made.17)

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1.3 Framework and Method As it is important to compare multiple park designs, this study examines four castle site parks for which the existence of drawings is confirmed: Senshu Park (Kubota Castle site) and Iwate Park (Morioka Castle site), both of which were designed by Nagaoka Yasuhei; and Tokushima Park (Tokushima Castle site) and Wakayama Park (Wakayama Castle site), designed by Honda Seiroku. Among them, Senshu Park and Iwate Park are considered by some scholars to be prominent as two specific cases of parks intended to preserve and make use of castle sites as historic cultural resources.18) The existence of the original drawings has not been confirmed for the Tokushima Castle site, so schematic drawings that appeared in a local newspaper are used as materials for this study. The study of Nagaoka’s designs mainly focuses on what can be read from his drawings as there are no documents or materials to explain his design concepts or other details now extant other than his drawings. As for Honda, details of his designs appeared in local newspapers and, in the case of Wakayama, the city of Wakayama has compiled and published all the available materials as “Wakayama Park Design Proposal.” Therefore, these materials were also analyzed. Other materials from the same period, such as articles that appeared in newspapers or the minutes of proceedings of local assemblies in those days, were also used as basic data.

Table-1 Subjects of Research Designer: Nagaoka Yasuhei Designer: Honda Seiroku Year of Design Castle Site Park Year of Design Castle Site Park 1896 Senshu Park (Kubota Castle site) 1905 Tokushima Park (Tokushima Castle site) 1906 Iwate Park (Morioka Castle site) 1915 Wakayama Park (Wakayama Castle site)

For the above cases there are some preceding studies that make clear the process of conversion from castle site to park. These are the introduction of Nagaoka’s initial design and the later design for improvement of Senshu Park19); an analysis of the relationship between Nagaoka’s design of Iwate Park and its implementation by Iwate Prefecture20); and the process of conversion of the Tokushima Castle site to Tokushima Park and the relationship between Honda’s design and its implementation.21)22) Using these preceding studies as reference, we analyze four castle site parks, the subjects of this study, from three viewpoints, as follows: 1) Circumstances of conversion of castle site to park: To identify the motivation for converting the castle site to a park as a prior condition for the design. 2) Handling of historic scenic beauty in the park design: To clarify whether the park design is intended to preserve or destroy the castle site, which represents historic scenic beauty inherited from pre-modern times. 3) Receptivity to the park design from the viewpoint of its implementation: To clarify whether the park design was accepted by the body implementing the project and by the local community in the context of its later implementation. Based on and comparing the results of the above analysis, this study examines the modernity embodied in the conversion of castle sites into parks. For the purpose of this study, the historic scenic beauty of a castle site refers to 1) the remains inherited from pre-modern times and 2) archival records of space and uses of space in pre-modern times. Remains refers to i) architectural remains such as structures, earthen walls, or Urban and Regional Planning Review Vol. 4, 2017 | 214 castle gates, ii) landscaping remains such as trees planted in the area of the shiroyama (castle hill) or gardens, and iii) remaining earthworks and fortifications such as moats, stone walls, or embankments. These are the inherited remains which must be taken into consideration at the time of conversion into a park. Archival records of space and uses of space in pre-modern times refer to the topographical zones, such as the inner citadel or outer citadel of the castle, and to land use, layout of facilities, and flow of visitors in such zones.

2. Nagaoka Yasuhei’s Park Design for the Site of Kubota Castle 2.1 Motivation of Conversion of Castle Site to Park, as Prior Condition for Design Local volunteers, including the governor of Akita Prefecture, selected the site of Kubota Castle owned by the Satake family, descendants of the former feudal lord, as a location for rebuilding a Shōkonsha to replace one that had been destroyed by fire in 1893. Shōkonsha was a Shinto shrine dedicated to the spirits of the war dead. They made a plan to convert the castle site into a park in conjunction with this relocation. An associated memorial ceremony was planned to be held there. When the Sino-Japanese War ended in December 1895, a proposal to convert the castle site into a park was submitted to the Akita prefectural assembly.23) The proposal, in which it was argued that the conversion could transform the ruined castle site into the “utmost beautiful landscape,” was passed with no amendments. A budget for the three years starting from 1896 was immediately allocated for its implementation. Akita Prefecture commissioned Nagaoka Yasuhei to design the park. Nagaoka visited the city of Akita with his assistant in July 1896. He conducted field reconnaissance and, after a couple of days, reported to the governor of Akita Prefecture with his design documents and drawings.24) Two drawings associated with his design are in the possession of the Akita Prefectural Archives. One, dated June 27, 1896, is a land use drawing of the park drawn to 1/600 scale (Figure-2). The other, with a notation of the year 1896 and the name of the designer, Nagaoka Yasuhei, is a drawing of the park (Figure-3). Considering the date, the land use drawing of the park (Figure-2) seems to have been created before Nagaoka’s visit to Akita as an as-built drawing based on which the park was to be designed. While there is no description of trees, the topography of moats and embankments, and pathways and stairs, are shown in it. We can also find a large square, although indicated with thin and pale lines, drawn in the area of the inner citadel of the castle. Comparing this with the drawing of the park (Figure-3) by Nagaoka, it is understood that this square indicates the location of the Shōkonsha and Akita Shrine. In other words, Figure-2 is a preliminary drawing based on which Nagaoka considered the layout of the two shrines when he designed the park. Considering this from the opposite standpoint, it would seem that his park design places the first priority on the locations of these shrines, which means that the establishment of these shrines provided the impetus for the conversion to a park. Akita Shrine is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the spirits of the feudal lords of Kubota Castle. 2.2 Handling of Historic Scenic Beauty in Park Design There are no documents or materials now existing to explain Nagaoka’s design concepts or intentions. If we therefore try to read the relationship between the details of his design and the historic scenic beauty from his drawing of the park (Figure-3), we can note the following Urban and Regional Planning Review Vol. 4, 2017 | 215 features. 1) In his drawing of the park, the site of the Shōkonsha and Akita Shrine is located in a section that includes embankments. Behind that section, a series of trees which continue to the surrounding area are drawn. This means he didn’t plan to destroy the embankments when determining the location of the shrines. 2) We can see flowering trees and shrubs as well as trees that look like pine or cedar trees, all of which are marked with symbols according to the species of tree, in the drawing of the park. Although it is impossible to identify the species of the trees, Nagaoka’s intention to lay out the same tree species in each area can be seen. Such planting is different from the previous vegetation on the grounds of Kubota Castle. 3) No plan to fill in the surrounding moat is shown. Trees of the same species are drawn in series along the moat, and the line shape of the moat is accentuated in the drawing. 4) The flow of visitors, embankments, and stairs to approach the castle site are the same as those drawn in the land use drawing of the park (Figure-2). Moreover, the location of the only castle structure existing from pre-modern times, which is shown in the land use drawing of the park, is also clearly shown in the drawing of the park. The design preserves and makes use of both earthworks and fortifications and structural remains. 5) On the other hand, when compared with the Layout Plan and Floor Plan of Structures in the Inner Citadel of the Castle (Figure-1),25) which is estimated to have been created around the end of feudal period,26) no relationship is found in Nagaoka’s design. In his drawing, he provides landscape gardening for the area where a pond in the inner citadel was shown on the land use drawing of the park, and additional landscape gardening with a newly placed pond for the area of the former outer citadel of the castle. A winding pathway for visitors, drawn in the area of former outer citadel of the castle, indicates his intention to build a pathway for strolling. His design shows no connection with archival records of space or uses of space in pre-modern times. Figure-1. Layout Plan and Floor Plan of Structures in the Inner Citadel of Kubota Castle (Source: Hashimoto Munehiko (edit) (1898), Volume 2 of Akita Enkakushi Taisei: Hashimoto Soichi) Urban and Regional Planning Review Vol. 4, 2017 | 216

In this way, Nagaoka created his design such that the remaining earthworks and fortifications of the castle site, such as the embankments and moat, could be utilized as they were. Akita Prefecture had made a lease agreement with the Satake family, the owner of the Kubota Castle site, on the premise of “preservation of the old configuration”.27) This “preservation of the old configuration” means preservation including the earthworks and fortifications. Nagaoka created his design against this background.

Figure-2. Land Use Drawing of a Park (in the possession of Akita Prefectural Archives)

Figure-3. Park Drawing (in the possession of Akita Prefectural Archives) Urban and Regional Planning Review Vol. 4, 2017 | 217

2.3 Receptivity to Park Design from the Viewpoint of Implementation The budget proposal for fiscal 1897 submitted to the prefectural assembly convened in November 1896 included a revised plan for park implementation. This plan revised the parts of the budgets for fiscal 1897 and 1898 that were included in the initial three-year budget passed the previous fiscal year. This was because after the park designer invited from Tokyo submitted a detailed design, the cost to implement it turned out to exceed the initial budget. The prefectural officials explained that they raised the budgets for the two fiscal years to complete the project.28) The revised budget proposal planned to move up the tree planting to fiscal 1987 by increasing budget allocations for both fiscal years, especially in the field of civil engineering work. These revisions resulted from the fact that the total implementation costs for Nagaoka’s design would have exceeded the initial budget. Looking at this from the opposite standpoint, Akita Prefecture took a stance to faithfully implement Nagaoka’s design rather than to modify it so as to fit within the initial budget. Later the prefectural assembly adopted the revised budget submitted by the prefecture.29) One year later another revised budget proposal for park implementation was submitted to the prefectural assembly. This was actually the budget proposal for fiscal 1898 with additional funds for construction of the park. The reasons were as follows: price increases; the need to start more construction work arising from the work conducted in fiscal 1897; the hiring of an additional supervisor; and a wage increase for the construction workers.30) The revised budget proposal was also adopted by the prefectural assembly.31) Park implementation based on the increased budget started in November 1898.32) In this way, the prefecture increased the initial budget and constructed the park over a period of two years according to Nagaoka’s design. In short, Nagaoka’s design was accepted by Akita prefecture, the body implementing this project, and was actually implemented without any change.

3. Nagaoka Yasuhei’s Park Design for the Site of Morioka Castle 3.1 Motivation of Conversion of Castle Site to Park, as Prior Condition for Design In December 1903 Iwate Prefecture consulted the Iwate prefectural assembly about the conversion of the Morioka Castle site owned by the Nanbu family, the descendant of former feudal lord, into a park. This proposal was passed by a majority.33) The project, however, did not start because the Russo-Japanese war began the following year.34) Subsequently, both the governor and the head of the Nanbu family changed. Following the end of the war the prefecture again proposed a project to convert the castle site into a park to commemorate the nation's victory in the war and to provide relief for persons suffering from the poor harvest the previous year. In February 1906 the Iwate prefectural assembly passed a proposal to allocate funds in fiscal 1906 to convert the castle site into a park. The prefecture executed an agreement to lease the site free of charge for thirty years from the Nanbu family.35) The prefecture started to implement the project in April and gave notice that the park would be named “Iwate Park” and open on September 15.36) It was Nanbu Toshinaga who agreed to the plan to convert the castle site into a park in 1903. Subsequently, he fought in the Russo-Japanese war as a first lieutenant and was killed in action in March 1905. Volunteers dominated by former feudal retainers intended to build a Urban and Regional Planning Review Vol. 4, 2017 | 218 bronze statue of Nanbu Toshinaga. They issued a prospectus relating to the construction of the statue and began to solicit donations in January 1906. Looking at the drawing of Iwate Park (Figure-5), a rectangle-shaped section surrounded by pathways is drawn in the center of the former inner citadel, which is located at the highest point of the castle site, and this section is marked as the “Planned Site to Build a Statue” in the Iwate Park map (Figure-6) produced at the time of the park’s opening. Again, we can confirm that one of the motives for converting the castle site into a park was the construction of this statue. Figure-4. Morioka Castle Drawing (in the possession of Morioka History and Culture Museum) Figure-5. Iwate Park Drawing Figure-6. Iwate Park Map (in the possession of Tokyo Metropolitan Park (in the possession of Iwate Prefectural Museum) Association) Urban and Regional Planning Review Vol. 4, 2017 | 219

3.2 Handling of Historic Scenic Beauty in Park Design The park was designed by Nagaoka Yasuhei. Nagaoka visited Morioka with his assistant in April.37) According to a newspaper account, he said his design concept was to make use of the scenic beauty of the castle site,38) but the details of his design cannot be confirmed. Therefore, we tried to read the details of his design for the historic scenic beauty from his drawings of the park (Figure-5), referring to a Pictorial Diagram of Morioka Castle from pre-modern times (Figure-4). We found the following features: 1) In Nagaoka’s design, a linear pathway is planned from the inner citadel to the outer citadel in the north, leading to the outermost region of the castle. Such a flow of visitors was not seen in pre-modern times. 2) To the south of the former inner citadel of the castle, Nagaoka draws stairs which did not exist in the feudal period. While the castle in pre-modern times was closed to the public and there was only limited access to it, he adds new avenues for flow of visitors in his design. To accomplish this he plans to dismantle part of the stone walls. 3) Nagaoka plans to convert the former inner citadel and former outer citadel of the castle into lawn, provide a flower garden beneath the terrace to the east of the former outermost region of the castle, and construct an athletic field to the south of the flower garden. In this way, he makes use of the flat areas from pre-modern times and adds new uses for them. 4) Nagaoka plans to plant single tree species in each zone and specifies such zones for cherry trees, peach trees, and plum trees with their names. He also plans to build a garden making use of the moat, describing some waterweeds in the area of the moat running north-south and located in the east of the castle site. Both of the above indicate his intention to create a new space as a park.

3.3 Receptivity to Park Design from the Viewpoint of Implementation In June, when the construction of the park was underway, Iwate Prefecture asked Nagaoka to oversee the construction of the park.39) As Nagaoka was asked not only to design the park but also to supervise its construction, he resided in Morioka for more than five months until the opening of the park. It is said that although the governor was at first worried about the construction of the park, he was later relieved to see the performance of the work and placed absolute confidence in Nagaoka.40) Comparing Nagaoka’s drawing of Iwate Park (Figure-5) and the Iwate Park Map (Figure-6) produced at the time of the opening, no major changes are apparent. At the opening ceremony a prefectural engineer gave a report on the construction of the park,41) details of which are same as those in Nagaoka’s drawing. In this way, Nagaoka was consistently involved in the implementation of the project to build Iwate Park, from its design to its construction, and his design concept was reflected in the actual construction of the park. He highly appreciated and was satisfied with the performance of the construction work, including the abilities of the architectural engineers.42) In addition to the funding allocated by the prefecture, a portion of the donations collected to support people suffering from the poor harvest in the previous year was used for the construction of the park. The park construction was considered to be a relief project since it employed affected people as construction workers.43) This is why the construction was completed in only five months. A grand opening ceremony was held on September 15, and many citizens attended.44) Urban and Regional Planning Review Vol. 4, 2017 | 220

In this way, Nagaoka’s design was accepted by Iwate prefecture, the project implementing body, and by the local community.

4. Honda Seiroku’s Park Design for the Site of Tokushima Castle 4.1 Motivation for Conversion of Castle site to Park, as Prior Condition for Design In May 1905 the governor of Tokushima Prefecture made a speech proposing several projects to commemorate the nation’s victory in the Russo-Japanese war.45) The first was to relocate a cenotaph for war dead to the top of the site of Tokushima Castle, the second was to build a library and an exhibition hall to exhibit arms or local products as an ancillary project to the first one, and the third was to combine these projects and convert the castle site into a park. Relocation of the cenotaph as proposed for the first project was the ultimate goal, and thus conversion of the castle site into a park was necessary to secure a location to hold the associated memorial ceremony. The prefectural governor, however, had intended to ask the city of Tokushima to undertake the projects as the implementing body. A plan to purchase the castle site from the Hachisuka family, the descendants of the former feudal lord and owner of the site, was submitted to the city council and later approved.46) In this way, about one month after the prefectural governor’s proposal, the city decided to purchase the castle site and build a park following consultation with the prefectural government.

4.2 Handling of Historic Scenic Beauty in Park Design The prefectural governor gave notice to the city in July that it would be preferable to commission Honda Seiroku as the park designer47) and undertook negotiations with him. Honda accepted the offer on the condition that he might send an assistant to investigate the site.48) The assistant visited the site in August to conduct field reconnaissance.49) In November Honda came to Tokushima with a set of documents.50) In other words, Honda designed the park without visiting the site. The existence of drawings of the park or associated documents created by Honda cannot be confirmed. A summary of the design was explained in a text published in the local newspaper over two days,51) and the Tokushima Park Schematic Design (Figure-7) appeared at a later date.52) The main points of the design we can read from these materials are as follows. 1) Planning in fives zones: i) In the South Zone stands the only castle gate inherited from pre-modern times. While the masugata (a style of defensive gateway barrier of a castle), stone walls, and moats that are located around the castle gate are retained, the stone walls in the western area are dismantled and a new bridge has been added. There is also a new industrial exhibition hall. ii) In the East Zone, a library and botanical garden are to be built. iii) In the Central Zone, valuable natural forest in the area of the shiroyama (castle hill) is to be preserved and tree felling associated with road building is to be kept at a minimum. On the top of the castle hill a cenotaph is to be built. iv) All of the West Zone is to be turned into an athletic field. v) The Tekisuikaku is to be used as-is as a public hall and the existing Japanese garden is to be preserved. 2) Planning of flow of visitors: i) Four gates are to be newly established as entrances to the vast site. Urban and Regional Planning Review Vol. 4, 2017 | 221

ii) Roads with a width of 3.6 meters or more and pathways with a width of 90 centimeters or more are to be built in the park in a meandering style. iii) A Road to the top of the castle hill is also to be built.

Figure-7. Schematic Drawing of Tokushima Park Design (Source: December 5, 1905 in Tokushima Mainichi Shinbun)

Figure-8. destroyed stone walls (presumed) Drawing of Tokushima Castle (source: “IllustratedCollection of Tokushima Castle Preliminary Drawings” published by Tokushima Municipal Tokushima Castle Museum in 2000) Urban and Regional Planning Review Vol. 4, 2017 | 222

In this way, Honda designed a park including relocation of the cenotaph for the war dead and establishment of an industrial exhibition hall at the castle site, details of which were in accordance with the governor’s proposal. Looking at the relationship between these details of his design and the historic scenic beauty, the major part of the structural remains, landscape remains, and remaining earthworks and fortifications inherited from pre-modern times, including an existing gate, garden, moats, stone walls and forest, are left unchanged. Part of the stone walls, however, were removed (Figure-8), and land use and flow of visitors in the design have no relationship with archival records of space and uses of space adopted by the former castle. 4.3 Receptivity to Park Design from the Viewpoint of Implementation In response to Honda’s design Tokushima Prefecture calculated the implementation cost, which indicates that the prefecture accepted the design. It turned out however that more funding was needed to implement the project than initially planned. Therefore, the implementation budget was cut by about twenty percent, and instead of the prefecture the city of Tokushima undertook the project on a six-year continuing basis.53) How the project was revised is not clear, a decision was made to implement it based on Honda’s design. First, the construction work to relocate the cenotaph as proposed by the governor was conducted, and the construction to host the associated memorial ceremony was implemented ahead of the other aspects. After a while the ceremony was held. So many people attended from all over the prefecture that there was not even an inch of free space. Then, although not formally announced yet, a visit by the Crown Price to the park was decided on. This planned visit provided the impetus for completing the construction in time. As such construction included work which was different from that in Honda’s design, it caused lots of controversy in the city council, which was concerned about consistency with Honda’s design.54) In addition, since a Senshukaku hall was planned to be built as a facility for welcoming the Crown Prince, the existing Tekisuikaku was relocated to the site where Honda had originally planned to build a library. In this way, although the project was implemented according to Honda’s design in the beginning, part of the project was implemented contrary to his design concept in order to highlight a special event, a visit by the Crown Prince. As a result, the consistency with Honda's design was questioned, which indicates that a disagreement occurred regarding the actual implementation and implementation according to Honda’s design. The construction of the library was delayed, but Tokushima Prefecture nevertheless planned to build it to commemorate the enthronement of the Taisho Emperor. There were many arguments over its location. Ten years had passed since Honda created his design, but such arguments were still based on it. In the end the library was built at the bottom of the castle hill, which differed from the original design. 5. Honda Seiroku’s Park Design for the Site of Wakayama Castle 5.1 Motivation of Conversion of Castle Site to Park, as Prior Condition for Design In 1911 the city of Wakayama applied to the central government to purchase of the site of Wakayama Castle, which had been administered as Wakayama Park by Wakayama Prefecture. The following year the sale of the castle site at a price of sixty thousand yen was approved, and its ownership was transferred to the city. That fiscal year, however, the park was administered Urban and Regional Planning Review Vol. 4, 2017 | 223 using funding from the prefecture, and the city administered it starting in fiscal 1913. Before that time the park was just a castle site that was open to the public, and nothing was done to convert it into a park. In 1914 the city decided to improve the park to commemorate the enthronement of the Emperor.

5.2 Handling of Historic Scenic Beauty in Park Design The city of Wakayama asked Honda Seiroku to submit a design to improve Wakayama Park.55) At the end of December 1914 Honda visited Wakayama over the winter holidays to conduct field reconnaissance.56) He seems to have stayed there until around January 6 of the next year. During his stay in Wakayama Honda caught a cold, and his physical condition was not good. He therefore started to make a full-scale design after his return to Tokyo. Honda’s drawings for the Wakayama Park improvement project and associated documents and materials remain today. Looking at the relationship between the details of his design and the historic scenic beauty based on the above documents, we see the following. Honda highly valued the Wakayama Castle site because of its value as an historic site and its rich resources as a park due to its location, the shape and size of the land, and the natural environment surrounding it.57) However, in his design concept there are descriptions of measures to be taken regarding the moat and stone walls that are included in the historic scenic beauty of the Wakayama Castle, as follows: 1) Part of moat which it is not necessary to preserve is to be filled in if needed. 2) Only a limited part of the stone walls is to be removed if it is important for building the park. 3) Preservation of all stone walls surrounding the masugata will rather harm the value of the park and also cause inconvenience for visitors entering the park. In this way, Honda did not hesitate to express his intention to destroy part of the existing scenic beauty when converting the castle site into a park. One of the structural remnants, the castle tower which stood in the area of the castle hill, was to be preserved unchanged. As for gardens in the park, Honda planned to construct an “English garden,” “French garden” and “pure Japanese garden,” so that Western- and Japanese-style gardens would coexist.58) Moreover, he planned to vary the landscape in the park by zones, constructing areas dominated by cherry trees or maple trees as well as a “plum grove” and a “peach grove,” and dividing the large park site into sections (Figure-9). Honda also lists 74 items in detail as a partial design.59) In that partial design, he included the destruction of historic scenic beauty by filling-in of moats, and dismantling the masugata or stone walls. Such places are indicated in Figure-9. A masugata is a winding pathway with stone walls on both sides, and it is a space typical of early modern castle architecture. Honda did not hesitate to dismantle the masugata to secure a rectilinear flow of visitors entering the park. He also planned to shallowly fill in the southern moat, which was narrow and filled with dirty water, and instead to use the area as a seedbed for flowers. In addition, he suggested that the okaguchimon, the castle gate, should be dismantled rather than left as it was because major repairs would be required to restore it to its original state. Honda took the stance that, while preserving the historic scenic beauty of the castle site on the whole, it was unavoidable to destroy part of it where park facilities needed to be built. Although admitting its value as an historic site, he put priority on the maintenance of the site as Urban and Regional Planning Review Vol. 4, 2017 | 224 a park, an example of modern land use.

5.3 Receptivity to Park Design from the Viewpoint of Implementation The city of Wakayama announced Honda’s park design in April 1915. A budget proposal to build a park based on this design was submitted by the city of Wakayama and went back and forth. In June the city submitted a budget proposal to improve the park to the City Council.60) Positioned as a project to commemorate the enthronement of the Emperor, this budget proposal, which included other projects, provoked controversy, and the discussion was rescheduled for a later date.61) Then a new mayor was appointed in July and withdrew the budget proposal.62) After this the mayor submitted a new budget proposal to the City Council in August.63) Improvement of the park was planned as a continuing project from fiscal 1915 to 1919 with a total cost of around thirty-nine thousand yen. Following discussions, the budget allocation was approved.64) In this way, Honda’s park design plan itself was approved. The city of Wakayama had purchased the site of Wakayama Castle from the Home Ministry in 1912 on the condition that the city had to obtain permission from the prefectural governor if it intended to change the “original configuration” of the land or associated objects. Under this condition, the city applied to the prefecture for permission to implement Honda’s design plan. The governor refused, arguing that destruction of the “original configuration” as part of the project to improve a park, such as dismantling the masugata and stone walls, and filling in the low ground in a valley, was inappropriate.65) The “original configuration” in his opinion meant the remaining earthworks and fortifications as historic scenic beauty. The

Figure-9. Wakayama Park drawing (in the possession of the author) Urban and Regional Planning Review Vol. 4, 2017 | 225 governor therefore rejected the plan for improving the park because it would have damaged this historic scenic beauty. The city of Wakayama discussed a counterplan and decided to improve the park within a scope which would require no permission from the prefecture.66) The city then newly submitted a budget proposal to improve the park to the city council.67) This budget proposal covered a project for fiscal 1915 only, withdrawing the already-approved five-year continuing project. The only elements included in the plan were planting trees around the castle tower and improving existing roads to the extent that such improvements would not destroy the “original configuration.” The revised plan spurred controversy in the city council, leading to the establishment of an investigative committee to discuss the matter of historic scenic beauty.68) After consultation among committee members, a meeting with the governor was set up to hear his opinion. The governor stressed the value of the historic scenic beauty such as masugata, stone walls, and moats, and insisted on reconsidering their destruction. He also stated that he would permit the previously approved improvement plan if it was revised so as to preserve the “original configuration”.69) The committee accepted the governor’s view and decided to restore the former budget, omitting the portions involving destruction of the scenic beauty from the park design planned by Honda.70) Following the report by the committee, the city council withdrew its counterplan and decided to adopt the improvement plan designed by Honda, omitting the destruction of the masugata and stone walls and the filling-in of the moat from the five-year continuing project.71) In this way, a decision was made to improve the park in stages over five years, based on Honda’s park design plan but without destroying the scenic beauty.

6. Discussion and Conclusion 6.1 Modernization in Motivation of Conversion of Castle Site to Park, as Prior Condition for Design Each of the four cases discussed in this study had a clear background and purpose leading to the conversion of a castle site to a park, as follows: 1) To commemorate the nation’s victory in war or the enthronement of an Emperor (Kubota, Morioka, Tokushima, and Wakayama) 2) To build a Shinto shrine dedicated to the spirits of the former feudal lords or to build a bronze statue of the head of the family descended from the former feudal lord (Kubota and Morioka) 3) To create a space to commemorate the spirits of the local war dead who fell in the nation’s war (Kubota and Tokushima) The above shows that the conversion of a castle site to a park has two more characteristics in addition to the character of commemoration. Primarily, construction of a park has a relationship with the state which is represented by war, the war dead, or the Emperor. A memorial ceremony to commemorate the war dead is an opportunity to unify public awareness, and a park is a place to provide such a ceremony. Secondly, by building a Shinto shrine or a bronze statue which is connected to the former feudal lords within the very space of the castle site, local residents can doubly confirm the historical basis of the city in which they reside. From that perspective, conversion of a castle site into a park can be considered to be intimately related to their community. Such a relationship creates a spiritually unifying power to evoke a sense of belonging to the community. Urban and Regional Planning Review Vol. 4, 2017 | 226

6.2 Modernization in Handling of Historic Scenic Beauty in Park Design From the fact that, in each case, a professional landscape gardener was asked to plan the conversion of the castle site into a park, local authorities can be seen to have focused on building a park as a modern land use practice in particular, rather than preserving a castle site as an historic site. In other words, they aimed to actively use the castle site by accepting many people into a park. The relationship between each specific park design and the historic scenic beauty are as follows: Each park design was generally intended to make use of remaining earthworks and fortifications and structural remains. But especially in the case of earthworks and fortifications, their destruction was sometimes involved. Nagaoka dismantled part of the stone walls and installed new stairs instead in his design to convert the Morioka Castle site into a park, and Honda dismantled stone walls to secure open space. Moreover, Honda planned to fill in part of the moat and to dismantle the masugata and stone walls in the improvement plan for Wakayama Park. Looking at the date of each park design, the more recent it is, the larger the extent of destruction of earthworks and fortifications is. Honda created a design that made use of the remaining landscaping at the Tokushima Castle site. At the same time, both designers divided parks into several zones and planted single tree species, such as pine trees, cherry trees, and plum trees, in each zone to create new green space which was different from the vegetation of the original castle site. In all the designs we neither find any evidence that the designers referred to the archival records of space or uses of space in pre-modern times for the layout of the facilities such shrines or libraries, the practice of use of land such as flower gardens, botanical gardens, or athletic fields, or the flow of visitors such as the building of bridges over moats or pathways in the park, nor can we confirm any relationship between their designs and the archival records of space or uses of space in pre-modern times. Their focus was on the creation of parks, the exercise of modern use of land.

6.3 Modernization in Receptivity to Park Design from the Viewpoint of Implementation All four cases were implemented after a park design proposal was submitted. Both Akita and Iwate prefectures created parks that were faithful to Nagaoka’s designs. This is evidence that Nagaoka’s designs were accepted by the bodies implementing the projects. Many citizens came to the opening ceremony of Iwate Park, which shows that the design was also accepted by the local community. These castle site parks made use of their historic scenic beauty and, at the same time, envisioned modern land use, a park open to the local community. Thus, not only classical grace but also civilization and enlightenment were embodied in these parks. Castle site parks became places to foster local identity, as the local community’s common property. The budgets for Tokushima Park and Wakayama Park, both designed by Honda, were approved as continuing projects over six years and five years, respectively, because each project’s scale was so large. Each project, however, did not cover all the structures laid out in its design proposal. They focused on the creation of green space and pathways included in the park designs, and such implementations were accepted. Honda’s design concept focused on the use of the park by a variety of visitors rather than on the value of the castle site as a historic venue from the viewpoint of the social nature of the park. Urban and Regional Planning Review Vol. 4, 2017 | 227

That a professional landscape gardener was asked to plan the conversion of the castle site into a park means that the local authorities were actively interested in building a park as a modern land use practice. The creation of the park was part of a social policy designed to provide common open spaces for urban residents in the context of modernization. On the other hand, implementation of the Tokushima Park project raised questions about the consistency with Honda’s design, and the Wakayama Park project caused controversy over Honda’s improvement plan. As noted above, the more recent the date of the park design, the larger the extent of destruction of the structural remains on the castle site. In the 1910s social modernism was on the rise in Japan, and the design of Wakayama Park by Honda can be placed in such a context. On the other hand, a plan recommending the preservation of historic sites, scenic beauty, and natural monuments was submitted to the House of Peers in 1911. The same year the Japan Society for Preserving Landscape and Historic and Natural Monuments was established, and its Bulletin was published from 1914 onward. In the 1910s there was also a sudden rise in measures and opinions regarding the preservation of historic sites. It was in such a context that a debate unfolded over whether to accept or reject the destruction of historic scenic beauty that accompanied the aim of constructing a modern park.

Acknowledgement This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP 16H04469.

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