Kubota Residence Gardens

Hagi in Yamaguchi is a former castle town that is home to a lot of historical and traditional architecture including several Preservation Districts.

In the merchant district, one of the houses open to the public is the former residence of  the  Kubota Family who were drapers and later sake brewers.

Their house, built in the mid Edo Period has two small gardens, a front one walled off grom the main street, and a courtyard one viewable from three sides.

Not as grand as the gardens of the Kikuya Residence which is directly on the other side of the street, but they are pleasant enough and you will usually have the place to yourself.

four posts on the Kikuya Residence and gardens....

Kikuya Residence South Garden

 

The Kikuya family were wealthy and powerful merchants in the old castle town of Hagi. They were financiers of the ruling Mori Clan nd also were the de facto mayors of the town. Their Edo Period residence is open to the public and I have posted about it before. The gardens are rather nice, especially in the Autumn.

Starting in the Meiji Period, they built two new hpuses to the south of the main residence, one a single storey, and the later one with two storeys and a little more Western.

These were used as guesthouses for wealthy and powerful guests, and in the 1930's a Prime Minister stayed here as did minor members of the imperial family.

Over the years, well into the twentieth century, they created and expanded the gardens around these new houses, and they are now open to the public, though only in the Spring and Autumn.

Kikuya Residence Garden in Fall

The Kikuya Family were the wealthiest family in the castle town of Hagi. Though merchants were ostensibly almost the lowest class in the Edo Period social system, many became very wealthy and financed the upper samurai class and daimyos, as was the case here.

The former residence of the Kikuya family is located in one of the Preservation Districts in Hagi, and is open to the public.

It is considered to be one of the oldest large townhouses left in Japan and is registered as an Important Cultural Property.

An earlier post showed some of the interior views.

I also have an earlier post of some views of the garden in Spring.

The Dry Landscape garden is built to be enjoyed from the shoin study of the house.

Several Japanese garden experts suggest an Izumo-style influence.

If so, that would mean the garden had been altered later in the Edo Period after the Izumo-style became quite well known.

After the Meiji Restoration the family built a large, new mansion with western influences behind the original property.

It has a much larger stroll-type garden surrounding it, though it is only open to the public in the Spring and Autumn.

The next post is of this stroll-type garden, known as the South Garden in the Fall.

Some Art at Kanaya Tenmangu

Kanaya Tenmangu shrine is located just outside what used to be the gate into Hagi castle and was where the the Daimyo and official travellers would stop and pray for a safe journey, consequently it received many paintings and such as offerings.

The paintings of horses may well be an earlier version of "ema", votive plaques that were paintings of horses as a substitute for giving a real horse. The coiled snake painting is probably connected to Benzaiten.

One of the things I look for when visiting small, local shrines is the artwork.

The final photo is one of the Zuijin at the shrine. A signboard showed picture of the Buddhist Nio guardians that guarded the shrine until the Meiji Period.

The Tea House at Hagi Castle

Hagi Castle

Within the grounds of the Hagi Castle ruins there are not many buildings. A small storehouse, a fairly modern shrine, but there is also a small traditional teahouse set among some gardens.

Of all the times I have been there it has only been open once, but there always seems to be someone working on the gardens.

I believe it is possible to have tea here but I can find no information as to when or how much.

It is a nice place to wander and take pics though....

Buy dokudami herbal tea from Japan

Kikuya Residence

The Kikuyas were a rich merchant family who helped build and run the old castle town of Hagi. Their residence was built in 1602 and is one of the oldest and best preserved example of Edo Period merchant architecture in Japan.

The interiors of the buildings are filled with displays, including an office area. In many ways the Kikuya residence was built way above their station as merchants were the lowest of the 4 classes with only various "non-persons" below them, but as the Edo period went on they became richer and richer and the highest class, the samurai, became poorer and poorer.

The kitchens and domestic areas are also open and filled with artifacts.

Previously I posted on the gardens surrounding the residence, but next up is the neighboring park-like garden that contains a more modern mansion residence

The Garden at Kikuya Residence Hagi

The Kikuya Residence is a large complex of buildings from the Edo Period belonging to the Kikuya Family in the old castle town of Hagi, Yamaguchi.

Though merchants, and therefore the lowest class in Tokugawa Japan, they were the richest family in the town and great supporters of the Daimyo.

All these photos are from the garden around the oldest cluster of buildings on the main street, but there is also a larger, more park like, stroll garden around the newer mansion house.

Like most Japanese gardens this one is particularly nice in the autumn with the fall colors. I'm sure that at some point in the future I will post some of that.

Manhole Bridges

Misasa in Tottori is a famous hot spring resort in the middle of the prefecture not too far from Kurayoshi. Several bridges over the river are symbols of the area, and opoen air pools under the bridges contain the highest level of radon for any hot springs in the world.

Mount Kasayama is a small, 100 meter high volcano just along the coast from Hagi in Yamaguchi. It is known for its "forest" of camelias. At the base is a small pond with a bridge leading over to an Itsukushima Shrine.

The Ichinosaka River runs through the middle of Yamaguchi City, but I have no idea which particular bridge this is or its significance.

Tabuse on the south coast of Yamaguchi has this bridge named Sakura Bashi, cherry bridge, for its famous promenade lined with cherry trees. In the middle of this modern bridge are a pair of tall steel sculptures, symbols of the sakura festival.

A little further down the coast is the town of Obatake where the Oshima Bridge connects to Suo Oshima, the third largest island in the Inland Sea.

Ensei-ji & Konpira-sha

Enseiji Temple, located down a small side street in Hagi is an example of something that was once the norm but is now unusual, it is both a temple and a shrine on the same site.

It is home to the biggest stone lantern in the prefecture as well as a huge Tengu mask. It is famous for being the temple where Ito Hirobumi, Japans first Prime Minister, studied as a child. I did hear that his uncle was a priest here.

The reason given why the shrine and temple were not forced to seperate is that they were holding writings of an imperial princess from several centuries earlier. As stated it doesnt make sense, but they were not forced to separate.

The shrine is a Konpira, a branch of the famous one on Shikoku known for protection for sea journeys. The temple part is Shingon and the honzon is a Jizo. The temple was founded in the 13th Century, a long time before the castle town was built.