Ritsurin Garden


Ritsurin Garden is one of the most famous historical gardens in Japan. The garden is situated in the city of Takamatsu and is considered one of its main attractions. The garden contains a tea house, various folk art and craft exhibits, as well as various folk art and craft items for sale.
A tour through the garden generally takes one to two hours. There are various bridges, footpaths and small hills which offer a beautiful view of the garden and the surrounding scenery, most notably Mt. Shiun at the western border of the garden.

History

The buildings in the garden date back to the early 17th century. In 1625, the feudal lord of Takamatsu in Sanuki Province, Ikoma Takatoshi, began construction of Ritsurin, specifically the building of a garden around the South Pond using the beautiful greenery of Mt. Shiun as a backdrop. Beginning in 1642, Matsudaira Yorishige took over the area and continued its construction. The work was completed by the Fifth Lord Yoritaka in 1745 after 100 years of improvements and extensions made by the successive lords. After the new Meiji government requisitioned the garden, it was designated a prefectural garden and opened to the public on 16 March 1875. In 1953, the garden was designated a Special Places of Scenic Beauty.

Features

The garden covers 750,000 square meters.
Among the features of the garden are:
The many ponds and streams are full of koi and the pond at the Tea House has benches where visitors may sit and feed the fish from breadsticks purchased at the Tea House.

Gallery


File:Ritsurin gun o pond0006.jpg|Gun_o Pond
File:Ritsurin park04s3200.jpg|Mt. Shiun
File:Ritsurin park17bs3300.jpg|Sai-ko
File:150504 Ritsurin Park Takamatsu Kagawa pref Japan02s3.jpg|Nan-ko
File:Ritsurin_Garden_小普陀の石組.jpg|Rock formation
File:Ritsurin Garden 掬月亭.jpg
File:Ritsurin_park02s3200.jpg
File:Ritsurin_park05s3200.jpg
File:Ritsurin_park16s3200.jpg
File:150504 Ritsurin Park Takamatsu Kagawa pref Japan01s3.jpg
File:Ritsurin.JPG
File:Ritsurin Garden 20170610-1.jpg
File:Ritsurin Garden 20170610-2.jpg
File:Ritsurin Garden 20170610-3.jpg

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