2014-02-17

Sankeien Garden in Yokohama, Japan

Sankei Garden is a traditional Japanese-style garden in Yokohama, Japan. The garden is popular for its cherry blossoms, ume blossoms, and the changing leaves in autumn. Tomitaro Hara, known by the pseudonym Sankei Hara, built Sankeien Garden in 1902-1908; he was a silk trader. Almost all of its buildings are historically significant structures bought by Hara himself in locations all over the country, among them Tokyo, Kyoto, Kamakura, Gifu Prefecture, and Wakayama Prefecture. Ten properties have been declared important cultural properties, and the remaining three are Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan designated by the city of Yokohama. In World War II, some properties were damaged badly. In 1953, the garden was donated to the City of Yokohama, which entrusted it to the Sankeien Hoshokai Foundation. The garden was restored almost to its pre-war condition in five years. The total surface of the garden is 175 thousand square metres and features ponds, streams, and undulating paths designed by Sankei Hara, and many historical buildings, such as Tomyo-ji, the former three-agoda originally constructed in Kyoto in 1457 and relocated in 1914, and the former Yanohar House, originally the private residence of the Yahohara Family.