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

Shinjuku, Tokyo , officially called Shinjuku City, is a special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) as well as the Tokyo Metropol ...

. It belongs to

Waseda University Waseda University (Japanese: ), abbreviated as or , is a private university, private research university in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Founded in 1882 as the Tōkyō Professional School by Ōkuma Shigenobu, the fifth Prime Minister of Japan, prime ministe ...

. The garden covers an area of about 3,000 square metres. It was previously the residence of the Ii family and

Matsudaira clan The was a Japanese samurai clan that descended from the Minamoto clan. It originated in and took its name from Matsudaira village, in Mikawa Province (modern-day Aichi Prefecture). During the Sengoku period, the chieftain of the main line of the ...

. In 1884,

Shigenobu Ōkuma Shigenobu is a Japanese name. It is usually a male given name but can be a surname or the name of a place. As with most personal names, the meaning of the name is derived from which ''kanji'' (Chinese characters) are used, and there are several di ...

, the founder of

, remodeled the garden into semi-Western style. He placed a vast

lawn A lawn () is an area of soil-covered land planted with Poaceae, grasses and other durable plants such as clover lawn, clover which are maintained at a short height with a lawn mower (or sometimes grazing animals) and used for aesthetic an ...

, artificial hills, and

pond A pond is a small, still, land-based body of water formed by pooling inside a depression (geology), depression, either naturally or artificiality, artificially. A pond is smaller than a lake and there are no official criteria distinguishing ...

s, and grew

melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. It can also specifically refer to ''Cucumis melo'', commonly known as the "true melon" or simply "melon". The term "melon" can apply to both the p ...

s in a hothouse for the first time in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. After his death, the garden was donated to

. Although it suffered serious damage in the air raid of 1945, it was almost restored and now is a recreation place for students. The garden features an extensive

, brooks, seasonal plants and

walking path A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Howe ...

s. There are

lantern A lantern is a source of lighting, often portable. It typically features a protective enclosure for the light sourcehistorically usually a candle, a oil lamp, wick in oil, or a thermoluminescence, thermoluminescent Gas mantle, mesh, and often a ...

s, small stone

pagoda A pagoda is a tiered tower with multiple eaves common to Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Myanmar, Vietnam, and other parts of Asia. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most often Buddhist, but some ...

s, statues. Reduced-size replica of “Shotoku-Daiou-Shinkyo” which was donated by the Korean graduates’ association in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the university, now adorns the garden. Okuma Garden is located approximately 5 minutes' walk from Waseda Station, and it is open from 11:00 until 16:00 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday during the semesters, April to December. It is closed on rainy days.

Gallery

External links

Waseda Weekly

{{DEFAULTSORT:Okuma Garden Gardens in Tokyo Shinjuku Waseda University