Rikugien-no-Zu From the National Diet Library collection Tokyo Tales for 2020 No. 1 Chiyoda no Ooku (“The Chiyoda Harem”) O-Hanami (“Flower Viewing”) From the National Diet Library collection The Daimyo Teien of Edo Strolling through some of the capital's most beautiful gardens Text and layout: JQR, with special thanks to the Tokyo Metropolitan Park Association Hamarikyu Gardens Koishikawa Korakuen Rikugien “Tokyo Tales for 2020” is a semi-regular series showcasing the Japanese capital's myriad attractions ahead of the 2020 Olympics. With guidance from Tokyo Metro Senior Managing Director Murao Koichi (visiting professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University and Tokyo City University), JQR will report on 2015 vol.24 14 the day-to-day evolution of one of the world’s great cities. 15 Q A What is a daimyo teien? The ideal Edo period garden, combining form and function. Shinji Isoya During the Edo period, daimyo lords, who were required to split their time between their own domains and the capital city of Edo (Tokyo), competed to construct large gardens at their residences. There were once a thousand such gardens, and though they disappeared in quick succession following the Meiji Restoration, even now a handful remain to evoke the atmosphere of the Edo period. Professor Shinji Isoya, a leading expert in landscape architecture, explains the origins and significance of daimyo teien, and the best ways to enjoy these priceless gardens. Interview: JQR Photography: TomoyaTakai 2015 vol.24 2015 vol.24 16 17 A Perfect Balance of Scenery and Practicality Gives Daimyo Teien Their Incredible Allure The Tokugawa Shoguns and Daimyo Teien of Edo 1600 Ieyasu aimyo teien are, as the entertaining. Tea, alcohol and food drive toward shokusan kogyo Horaijima and Chikubujima, was both Hidetada name suggests, the teien were served, and of course women (increasing production, encouraging the ocean and Lake Biwa. Recreations 10 D (gardens) of the samurai gathered there as well. The garden was industry) Hamarikyu became the site for of renowned beauty spots instantly 20 Koishikawa class. These are totally more than just a refined place to historic sweet potato cultivation trials recognizable to educated people, such Iemitsu Korakuen different to the garden of the priest, or appreciate the scenery. It was the by scholar and scientist Aoki Konyo. as the Shiraito Falls at Mt. Fuji and 30 1629 that of the noble, and most definitely setting for political intrigue, and a place Today we might call it industrial Hangzhou's West Lake, were positioned 40 more than just superficially charming. to enjoy diverse pleasures, promotion. In those days a statesman's cleverly around the garden, though Hamarikyu Hamarikyu Gardens, for example, were encapsulating the entirety of Edo-period interest in the world had to encompass naturally scaled-down due to space 50 Ietsuna Gardens (Hama no Gyoen) originally the “seaside gardens” (hama culture. industry, culture, the arts, education restrictions. These shrunken landscapes 60 no gyoen) of the shogun's coastal and more. Thus the daimyo teien was a are known as shukkei. Enclosed, Mito Mitsukuni 1654 invites Ming Dynasty Established as seaside home of the residence. Hamarikyu has two duck Beauty in a Garden place for putting into practice all the scaled-down visions of Eden are the CompletedConfucian scholar 70 Zhu Zhiyu to visit; on Kofu clan lords ponds, known as Shinzeniza and Arises from things that underpinned samurai basis of Japan's particular approach to Mitsukuni's orders Zhu chooses the Tsunayoshi Koshindo, which were used for duck- Practicality and society, an open space with a wide garden design. 80 name “Korakuen” hunting. There were also areas for Purpose range of roles. Rikugien, created almost 70 years after Visit by shogun Rikugien 90 Tsunayoshi's mother horse-riding and archery. A warrior had Koishikawa Korakuen, contains scaled- Keishoin. Tsunayoshi removes most of the Becomes shogunal 1695 to be battle-ready at all down landscapes such as Deshio-no- 1700 large and strangely- villa, dubbed the Essentially an Visit by shogun shaped rocks from Hamagoden or “ Completed Tsunayoshi's times, so honing one's minato and Fujishiro-toge from the Ienobu the paths for easier seaside residence” Enclosure for daughters Tsuru- 10 Tokugawa Yoshimune hime and Mai-hime martial skills was a a Scaled-Down “Eighty-eight famous scenic spots” Ietsugu Over 700 large trees adds a textile workshop, are felled sugar factory, saltworks, routine part of daily life. Ideal celebrated in the Manyoshu and Kokin 20 Yoshimune blacksmith's forge, and medicinal herb garden Therefore the gardens Wakashu poetry anthologies. Rikugien Elephant gifted to were equipped with Creating a garden starts is a waka poem theme park, its 30 the shogun arrives from Nagasaki, and facilities of this sort. with enclosing a space, methodology identical to that of is kept on grounds 40 for several years Because the owner of and in fact the English Disneyland or Universal Studios: only Ieshige Hamarikyu constructed word garden originally the theme is different. In the embrace of 50 the garden with potential refers to such an enclosure. his garden, its creator, cultured in 60 Ieharu combat in mind, its The space is enclosed things Japanese and Chinese, recreated Extensive alterations design and location also using any one of a number his ideal realm. 70 carried out, including construction of the Shiraito Falls, starting serve a strategic purpose. of methods, such as a stone Duckponds extended in the time of 6th lord Pond dries up 80 Harumori with addition of the Enclosed by a solid stone wall, fence, or moat. Creating Grand Vistas Shinzeniza pond Ienari Completed wall, with a masugata On the largest scale, this Connected to the Abandoned for 20 90 years double gate at the entrance, could mean having your Outside world Hamarikyu has the In Professor Shinji's opinion, viewing Japanese gardens through the lens of garden surrounded by 1800 Restoration work Zen or wider Buddhist thought has the opposite effect of making them hard to carried out over a trappings of a castle. understand. Any discussion of gardens, he says, must start by acknowledging mountains. A microcosm in Utilizing mountains, towers, etc. located year 10 Shogun Ienari's Traveling from Edo Castle that first and foremost, they are places to be enjoyed. a basin, so to speak. outside the garden as the main vistas official wife Kodaiin visits and along the Yamashita Enclosure is a fundamental of the garden, rather than simply part of 20 enjoys fishing moat and down the requirement for any space the general view, is a device known as 30 Tsukiji River to the boat landing, Crucial to the culture of landscape in which human beings are going to shakkei. Whenever human beings find Ieyoshi in an emergency one would have been architecture is the harmony of utility feel secure. This is why Japan's ancient themselves enclosed, a desire to 40 able to access the open sea. In other and scenery. By utility we mean capitals were all situated in basins. connect to the outside arises. People 50 words, the garden is designed to practicality, and by scenery, the So we take a space, enclose and living in Japan’s Edo-period isolation Iesada facilitate flight if the shogun was trapped. garden's visual qualities, such as the secure it, and build our ideal world, our dreamed of foreign lands. During the 60 Iemochi That said, samurai were not constantly attractive nature of its vistas. Aiming for Eden, inside. feudal period, the day-to-day lives and Naval officer school Yoshinobu spoiling for a fight. They prepared a balance between and consideration What constitutes that ideal has varied social behavior of the daimyo were also 70 transferred from Tsukiji themselves for both war and peace, for these things is fundamental to over the centuries. In ancient times in a sense psychologically enclosed. with the skills to achieve their aims garden design, and this holds true for people kept things simple with the This applied even to the shogun, and The daimyo teien occupied extensive sites, and took many years to construct. Koishikawa Korakuen was constructed in 1629 by Tokugawa Yorifusa, founder of the Mito branch of through diplomatic hospitality as well all gardens. Beauty can only emerge worship of gods and buddhas. In the Tokugawa Ienari (1773-1841) visited the Tokugawa clan, at his secondary (later main) residence in Edo. Work on the garden as battle. Gardens were highly prized from the unity of utility and scenery. early modern period, having begun to his “seaside garden” frequently for rest was completed by the second lord of the domain, Mitsukuni. Hamarikyu Gardens began life as the shogun's falconry range, then in 1654 was gifted by Tokugawa Ietsuna, the as settings for such diplomacy. When it comes to daimyo teien, utility acquire economic clout and technical and recreation, as a respite from the fourth shogun, to his younger brother Matsudaira Tsunashige, who reclaimed land and Hamarikyu Gardens include the ability, people started to build the built a villa there.Further landscaping and alterations were carried out by various shoguns was not only military. Hamarikyu stifling nature of his duties. Freed from over the centuries, until the garden had largely acquired its present-day form by the Nakajima-no-Ochaya (Island Teahouse) encompassed medicine, food and worlds and landscapes to which they other cares Ienari found the energy to time of the eleventh shogun, Tokugawa Ienari. Rikugien was constructed over a period of seven years by Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu, on land gifted in 1695 by the fifth shogun, and Matsu-no-Ochaya (Pine Teahouse) agriculture as well, with a medicinal aspired. For example, Koishikawa father 53 offspring.