Rikugien Garden

Located in Honkomagome 6-chome, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, this famous garden features a stroll-style artificial hill and a pond. It began in 1695 (Genroku 8) when Senior Councilor Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu created a garden and a villa on land in Komagome Someimura that he received as a second residence from the 5th shogun, Tokugawa Tsunayoshi. Since Tsunayoshi was invited to the garden in November 1701, it is believed that the garden was already completed at that time. The garden was named by Yoshiyasu himself after the six meanings of the classification of poetry found in the preface to the Chinese "Book of Songs." After his death, the garden fell into disrepair, but in the early Meiji period, Iwasaki Yataro of Mitsubishi restored it as a villa, and in 1938 (Showa 13), it was donated by the Iwasaki family to the city of Tokyo, where it remains to this day. It is a Special Place of Scenic Beauty, with a total area of ​​approximately 87,800 square meters. A large island has been created in the center of the Oike pond, with huge stones forming the Horai Stone Group, and further rock islands have been created, with reeds growing thickly on the pond's banks, but there is almost no stonework to protect the pond, giving it a naturalistic look. This design was inspired by the landscapes that Yoshiyasu, who was passionate about waka poetry, wrote about in his poems. The mountainside of the large artificial hill is reminiscent of deep, natural mountains, and here a huge stone waterfall has been created to flow down an abundant amount of water. Numerous stones are used in the flowing water to express the appearance of a deep valley, creating the most outstanding local landscape in the garden.

[Shigemori Kando]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

東京都文京区本駒込(ほんこまごめ)6丁目にあり、回遊式築山(つきやま)泉水の名園。1695年（元禄8）老中柳沢吉保(よしやす)が5代将軍徳川綱吉(つなよし)から中屋敷として拝領した駒込染井村の地に、別業と庭園をつくったのに始まる。1701年11月に綱吉を園に招いているから、すでにそのころ完成していたと考えられる。名称は、中国の『詩経』大序にある詩の分類法の六義にちなみ、吉保自身の命名したもの。彼の没後荒廃していたが、明治初年に三菱(みつびし)の岩崎弥太郎(やたろう)が別邸として復旧、1938年（昭和13）岩崎家から東京市に寄贈され、現在に至る。特別名勝で、総面積は約8万7800平方メートル。大池泉に中島を大きくつくり、巨石で蓬莱石組(ほうらいいわぐみ)を構成、さらに岩島をつくり、池畔にはアシを繁茂させているが、護岸石組はほとんどなく、自然主義的である。これは、和歌に熱中した吉保の、歌に詠まれた景観からの意匠である。また、大築山の山畔は自然の深山を思わせるもので、ここに巨大な滝石組をこしらえ、豊かに水を流し落とす。その流れには多数の石を用いて、深い渓谷の様相を表現、本園中のもっとも優れた局部的景観となっている。

［重森完途］

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