Chofuteien Garden

Chofuteien Garden

Chofu, a former castle town not far from Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi, was a base of the Mori Clan and though not so well known or visited is actually a delightful place for a visit.

Chofuteien is a large stroll-type garden that opened to the public in 1993. These photos are from a visit I made on November 27th, 2014, on my 24th day walking the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage. I had been here before in the late spring when everything was green, but the autumn colors were really spectacular.

It is on the site of the former manor of Nishi Yukinaga, the most senior of the Mori vassals.

In the middle of the 31,000 sq meter garden is a large pond, with koi, and a couple of bridges over it as well as stepping stones.

There is a small teahouse looking over the pond and a large summer house as well as a couple of white-walled storehoues, one of which hosts exhibitions.

The path heads up into the woods to a waterfall and heads back down to the storehouses through a bamboo grove and areas planted in a variety of seasonal flowers.

There are two more gardens in the old town, one a temple garden in a large Zen temple, and the other in the Mori Mansion. If readers requested it I could post on them soon.

Buy dokudami tea from Japan

Japanese Ducks

There are many species of ducks in Japan, but I believe these are Kamo, the common mallard.

They were and are eaten, and their arrival in the Autumn was used as a seasonal marker in poetry.

There has recently been a renewed interest in the use of domesticated ducks in rice agriculture. Traditionally they were used to control weeds and insects in the paddies as well as adding fertilizer.

All these were photographed in Chofu, Yamaguchi.

2014 Autumn Colors Walk Day 7 Chofu

On the final day of my walk I found myself in Chofu, the old samurai town near Shimonoseki. First stop was the Chofu Garden, Though it is not well known, it was a surprisingly good and large garden of the walk around style. I had been here once before, but that was an overcast day and everything was green, but with the blue sky and fall colors it really shone today.

Next was the pilgrimage temple Kozan-ji which had some nice fall color on the approach byt disappointingly the massive thatched gate was under repair and was completely enclosed in scaffolding and tarps. The young priest taking the entrance fee into the temples main hall, a National Treasure, was very friendly and chatty and gave me permission to photograph inside.

I also paid to visit the small garden which was enclosed on three sides and in shadow and somewhat disappointing. From here I headed to the Mori Mansion. Chofu was the Mori headquarters until the edo period when they moved to Hagi, but the mansion dates from the first decade of the twentieth Century.

It had a really nice garden, enjoyable as a view garden from the main house but also as a walk around garden, though very few of the visitors left the house. From here I headed down the main samurai street with high earthern walls and visited a couple of shrines. All in all an excellent end to my trip. Chofu is most certainly and under visited destination,

Next day I headed home where, a couple of days later, late autumn turned into midwinter in the space of one night. With work in the garden finished for a couple of months and enough firewood for the winter already chopped hopefully I can get around to finishing some masks :)

Round Windows: looking out.

Circular windows are not uniquely Japanese, but they do seem a little more common here traditionally.

Kennin-Ji, the oldest Zen Temple in Kyoto


The former Wilds Gallery, Omori, Iwami Ginzan


Tea room, Chofu gardens, Yamaguchi Pref.


Manor House, Takahashi, Okayama.


Park. Asari, near Gotsu