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.

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.