Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens

TOKYO CULTURE

©AFLO

Construction of this garden was started during the early Edo Period in 1629 by Yorifusa, the founder of the Mito Tokugawa family, as the garden for his secondary residence (which later became his main mansion in Edo). It was completed in the lifetime of Mitsukuni, the second Mito Tokugawa feudal lord. The garden is composed of artificial hills and ponds circled by paths, built around a central pond. Mitsukuni referred to the opinions of Zhu Shunshui ("Shu Shunsui" in Japanese), a surviving retainer of the Ming Dynasty when constructing the garden, incorporating scenes from China, including a "full-moon" shaped bridge (*Known as the Full Moon Bridge in Japanese, because the arch of the stone bridge reflected on the water's surface creates an image like a full moon) and a West Lake bank. The garden itself was also named by Shunshui, making it brim with the atmosphere of China.