Ritsurin Garden

This prefectural park is located in Ritsurin-cho, Takamatsu City. Formerly known as Ritsurin Garden, it is one of Japan's leading strolling feudal gardens. Located on the eastern foot of Mount Shiun, it has six major water features - Lake Sai, Lake Nan, Lake Bei, Kansui Pond, Hiyouchi Pond, and Senganchi Pond - as well as thirteen major mountain peaks, including Hiraiho, Xiaoputuo, and Hiengan, with over 60 landscapes encompassed throughout the garden. The total area is approximately 750,000 square meters.

During the Muromachi period, this area was the site of the Fudarakuji Temple and its gardens near Koputuo in the south, and in the Momoyama period it became the residence of Sato Michimasu, a vassal of Ikoma Chikamasa. The gardens from the Ikoma clan's time are the oldest in the current Nanko area, especially around Tobisarugane, and these form the basis of this garden. However, it was not until 1642 (Kan'ei 19), in the early Edo period, that the garden was developed into a fully-fledged feudal lord's garden, when Matsudaira Yorishige, the eldest son of Tokugawa Mitsukuni's older brother Yorifusa, was transferred to the area. Yorishige appears to have begun remodeling the garden as soon as he retired in 1673 (Enpo 1), and renovations continued for successive generations thereafter. An old drawing of the garden was created in 1745 (Enkyo 2) during the time of the fifth lord, Yorichika, so the entire garden is thought to have been completed around that time. After the Meiji Restoration, the garden was temporarily privatized and fell into disrepair, but in 1875 (Meiji 8), it became prefectural property, and in 1885, it was opened to the public as a prefectural park. It was designated a Special Place of Scenic Beauty in 1953 (Showa 28). It is a garden where visitors can enjoy the changing scenery as they stroll around, but the splendor of the numerous pine forests is particularly noteworthy, and the stonework is excellent, with superb techniques being seen on Tennyojima, one of the islands in the Nanko lake, a rock island known as Senso, and the stonework known as the Seven Lucky Gods to the left of Kikugetsutei.

[Shigemori Kando]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

高松市栗林町にある県立公園。かつては栗林園とよばれた、わが国の代表的回遊式大名庭園。紫雲山(しうんざん)東麓(とうろく)に位置し、西湖、南湖、北湖、涵翠池(かんすいち)、芙蓉池(ふようち)、潺湲池(せんがんち)の六大水局、および飛来峰(ひらいほう)、小普陀(しょうふだ)、飛猿巌(ひえんがん)など十三大山坡(さんぱ)を配置し、園全体に60余景が包含されている。総面積は約75万平方メートルである。

　この地は室町時代のころ、南部の小普陀付近に普陀落寺(ふだらくじ)とその庭園があり、桃山時代には生駒親正(いこまちかまさ)の臣佐藤道益(みちます)の邸となった。生駒氏時代の庭園は現在の南湖全体、とくに飛猿巌付近がもっとも古く、これが当園の基盤になっている。しかし、本格的な大名庭園として整備されるのは江戸初期の1642年（寛永19）、徳川光圀(みつくに)の実兄頼房(よりふさ)の長男松平頼重(よりしげ)が移封されてからである。頼重は73年（延宝1）に隠退するや本園改造に着手した模様で、以後代々改修が続けられ、5代頼恭(よりちか)の1745年（延享2）に本園の古絵図ができているから、全庭の完成はそのころと考えられる。明治維新後、一時私有化されて荒廃したが、1875年（明治8）県有地となり、85年には県立公園として一般公開されるに至った。1953年（昭和28）特別名勝に指定。回遊の風景の変化を楽しむ庭であるが、多数の松林のみごとさは特筆すべきものがあり、石組(いわぐみ)では、南湖の中島の一つ天女島のものと、仙磯とよばれる岩島、掬月亭(きくげつてい)左方の七福神と称される石組などに優れた手法がみられる。

［重森完途］

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