is a retreat including a Japanese garden and a house in

Matsuyama 270px, Matsuyama City Hall 270px, Ehime Prefectural Capital Building is the capital city of Ehime Prefecture, on the island of Shikoku, in Japan and is also Shikoku's largest city. , the city had an estimated population of 505,948 in 243,541 h ...

Ehime Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Ehime Prefecture has a population of 1,334,841 and a geographic area of 5,676 km2 (2,191 sq mi). Ehime Prefecture borders Kagawa Prefecture to the northeast, Toku ...

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 ...

. This was once a villa or a humble cottage of Kurita Chodō, a

haiku is a type of short form poetry that originated in Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases composed of 17 Mora (linguistics), morae (called ''On (Japanese prosody), on'' in Japanese) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern; that include a ''kire ...

poet of the

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 ...

. Today, part of the house was restored to preserve its original form as one of the special

historic sites A historic site or heritage site is an official location where pieces of political, military, cultural, or social history have been preserved due to their cultural heritage value. Historic sites are usually protected by law, and many have been rec ...

in Ehime, and NPO corporation GCM Kōshin-an Club are involved in voluntary activities to promote it.

History

The villa was built in 1800, in the style of

Matsuo Bashō ; born , later known as was the most famous Japanese poet of the Edo period. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative '' haikai no renga'' form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as th ...

's Genju-an, by Kurita Chodō to spend the rest of his life peacefully and deepen exchange with haiku poets in Matsuyama. Chodō enjoyed haiku gatherings, tea ceremony and simply viewing the garden. He wrote about his reclusive life in the cottage in his journal ''Kōshin-an ki'' (庚申庵記). According to the journal, Chodō named his cottage "Kōshin-an" for the year of its construction,

Kōshin or is a folk belief in Japan with Taoist origins, influenced by Shinto, Buddhism and other local beliefs. An event related to the belief is called , held on the Kōshin days that occur every 60 days in accordance with the Chinese sexagenary ...

. After the original owner's death, the house was used by local people to entertain guests over many years. To match the needs of each owner, extensions and reconstructions were made. From then on, in about 200 years, the house was abandoned and affected by natural disasters. However, local residents sought to preserve the place and refurbished it. Although the surrounding area was destroyed 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 ...

, the cottage including the garden miraculously survived. The house was endangered for some years, but a report by a student from Matsuyama Shinonome College led to interest in preserving and restoring the humble cottage as a historical valuable place. In 2000, Matsuyama City decided to reserve and reconstruct the house as a publicly owned property. After the investigation and restoration, during which extended sections and additions were removed, Kōshin-an was restored with its original shape and atmosphere much as it was in the

. In 2003, the house and its garden were opened to the public as a historic garden.

Structure

The house was originally composed of three rooms with an entrance. One of the rooms was called "yojo-han" or four and half tatami mats, and used for haiku gatherings. The room is rather unusual that it has no tokonoma; an alcove where art or flowers are displayed, so there was no Kamiza (place of honor) there. This design was chosen because Chodō wanted his guests to be equal in the gatherings, regardless of their social status. Another room was "sanjo" or three tatami mats room which is used for tea ceremony and enjoying talking with friends. The "nijo" or two tatami mats room was used for his daily life. Thanks to the research of members of the house, it was found out that kitchen and bathroom were added onto the house, the entrance was modified. As for the rooms, relatively new materials are used in "yojo-han" and "nijo" tatami rooms, and it shows that these rooms were modified after his time.

Entrance and garden

In the entrance gate, there is a kuhi which includes a

by Kurita Chodō: :草の戸乃ふる幾友也梅の花　（樗堂題） ::''kusa no to no furuki tomo nari ume no hana'' :the grassy door :an old friend :with the plum tree Originally, this poem was written in a hanging scroll in the house. Chodō took white ume blossom planted in front of the retreat Kōshin-an in this poem.Imamura, Matsui. 158 Wisteria, originally planted 250 years ago and provided shade in his time, is full bloom around the end of April. There is a stone statue of Jizō which stands looking over the garden.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koshin-An Matsuyama, Ehime

History

Structure

Entrance and garden

See also

Notes