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 prefectural capital, capital Cities of Japan, city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The Okayama metropolitan area, centered around the city, has the largest urban employment zone in the Chugoku region of western J ...

Okayama Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Okayama Prefecture has a population of 1,826,059 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 7,114 Square kilometre, km2 (2,746 sq mi). Okayama Prefecture ...

. It is one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan, along with

Kenroku-en , located in Kanazawa, Ishikawa, Japan, is a strolling style garden constructed during the Edo period by the Maeda clan. Along with Kairaku-en and Kōraku-en, Kenroku-en is considered one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan and is noted fo ...

and Kairaku-en. Korakuen was built in 1700 by Ikeda Tsunamasa, lord of

. The garden reached its modern form in 1863. Zhu Zhiyu, one of the greatest scholars of Confucianism in the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

and Edo Japan, helped to redesign the garden.

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 no ...

'' Ikeda Tsunamasa 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 (後園 "later garden") because it was built after Okayama Castle. However, since the garden was built in the spirit of ''senyukoraku'' (先憂後楽 "grieve earlier than others, enjoy later than others"), the name was changed to Kōrakuen (後楽園) 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 , also known as the , is the period between 1600 or 1603 and 1868 in the history of Japan, when the country was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and some 300 regional ''daimyo'', or feudal lords. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengok ...

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 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. 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 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 that only ser ...

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 ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

.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

Okayama Korakuen Garden official site

Otaue Matsuri Festival in Korakuen

NHK , also known by its Romanization of Japanese, romanized initialism NHK, is a Japanese public broadcasting, public broadcaster. It is a statutory corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television licence, television license fee. NHK ope ...