is a

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 in

Okayama is the capital city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The city was founded on June 1, 1889. , the city has an estimated population of 720,841 and a population density of 910 persons per km2. The total area is . The city is ...

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,906,464 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefectur ...

. It is one of the

Three Great Gardens of Japan The , also known as "the three most famous gardens in Japan" are considered to include Kenroku-en in Kanazawa, Kōraku-en in Okayama and Kairaku-en in Mito. The conception of gardens in a group of three is found elsewhere, for example, in the thr ...

, along with

Kenroku-en Kenroku-en (兼六園, Six Attributes Garden), located in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan, is an old private garden. Along with Kairaku-en and Kōraku-en, Kenroku-en is one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan. The grounds are open year-round except ...

and

Kairaku-en is a Japanese garden located in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. Along with Kenroku-en and Koraku-en, it is considered one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan. Overview Kairaku-en was built in the year 1842 by Tokugawa Nariaki, ''daimyō'' o ...

. Korakuen was built in 1700 by

Ikeda Tsunamasa was a Japanese ''daimyō'' of the Edo period. He was the head of the Okayama Domain.Edmond_Papinot.html" ;"title="DF_18_of_80/nowiki>_retrieved_2013-4-25. # .html"_;"title="DF_18_of_8 ....Edmond Papinot">Papinot, Jacques Edmond Joseph. (1906). ...

, lord of

. The garden reached its modern form in 1863.

History

In 1687, 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 n ...

ordered Tsuda Nagatada to begin construction of the garden. It was completed in 1700 and has retained its original appearance to the present day, except for a few changes by various ''daimyōs''. The garden was originally called Kōen ("later garden") because it was built after

Okayama Castle is a Japanese castle in the city of Okayama in Okayama Prefecture in Japan. The main tower was completed in 1597, destroyed in 1945 and replicated in concrete in 1966. Two of the watch towers survived the bombing of 1945 and are now listed by ...

. However, since the garden was built in the spirit of "sen-yu-koraku" ("grieve earlier than others, enjoy later than others"), the name was changed to Kōrakuen in 1871. The Korakuen is one of the few ''daimyō'' gardens in the provinces where historical change can be observed, thanks to the many

Edo period The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...

paintings and Ikeda family records and documents left behind. The garden was used as a place for entertaining important guests and also as a

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

of sorts for ''daimyōs'', although regular folk could visit on certain days. In 1884, ownership was transferred to

and the garden was opened to the public. The garden suffered severe damage during the floods of 1934 and by bombing damage in 1945 during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. It has been restored based on Edo-period paintings and diagrams. In 1952, the Kōrakuen was designated as a " Special Scenic Location" under the Cultural Properties Protection Law and is managed as a historical cultural asset to be passed to future generations.

Features of the Garden

The garden is located on the north bank of the Asahi River on an island between the river and a developed part of the city. The garden was designed in the Kaiyu ("scenic promenade") style which presents the visitor with a new view at every turn of the path which connects the lawns, ponds, hills,

tea house A teahouse (mainly Asia) or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment whic ...

s, and streams. The garden covers a total area of approximately 133,000 square meters, with the grassed area covering approximately 18,500 square meters. The length of the stream which runs through the garden is 640 meters. It features a central pond called Sawa-no-ike (Marsh Pond), which contains three islands purported to replicate the scenery around Lake Biwa near

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...

.Mansfield. Pages 74.

Gallery

File:Korakuen Garden, Okayama Prefecture.jpg, Image:Korakuen 19.JPG, Enyo-tei House Image:Korakuen Okayama35s4bs3872.jpg, View from Yuishinzan Hill Image:Korakuen Okayama29s3200.jpg, Mino-shima File:Korakuen Park Okayama Kawase Hasui 1934.jpg, Korakuen Park, Okayamaby Kawase Hasui, 1934

References

Bibliography

External links