Morikawa Residence Garden in Takehara

Morikawa Residence Garden

The Morikawa Residence was a "mansion" for a very wealthy merchant in Takehara on the south coast of Hiroshima/ Because so much of its historical streets and buildings still remain it is classed as a Preservation District and is also known as the "Little Kyoto of Ali". I wrote an earlier post about the Takehara Preservation District.

Morikawa built his new mansion in 1916, so it not so old, however it was built in traditionalstyle and is very large and open to the public. He was also the mayor of the town, showing that wealth and political power have always gone hand in jhand. An earlier post shows interiors of the mansion.

The Morikawa residence of course has a traditional Japanese garden, or rather three gardens. The main garden wraps around the property in an L shape and is therefore viewable from many different rooms.

It also has a Tsuboniwa, that is often translated as "courtyard garden" These can sometimes be very small, but as befittig a mansion the one here is mid-sized.

Often a Tsuboniwa is completey enclosed on all four side by the buildings, but here there is a narrow gap that connects to the main garden. Many of the rooms that do not look out onto the main garden can view the Tsuboniwa.

There was a third garden, a small front garden that you pass through from the gate to the entrance. I didn't photograph it. They are usually the most minimal with less plant and many rocks.

In a few of the first photos, you can see splashes of bright blue. These are plastic tarps spread over some bushes to protect them while the gardener was pruning some trees.

Purchase a selection of ema from GoodsFromJapan