Rakuju-en Garden

photo by Drivephotographer · CC0

photo by Drivephotographer · CC0

Kohama Pond, a Natural Monument, wells up from Fuji lava of 10–17 thousand years ago.

The Rakuju-kan pavilion, in Kyoto sukiya style on stilts, was built in 1890 as the residence of Imperial Prince Komatsu Akihito, inside a stroll garden around a pond fed by natural springs. The pond, the Kohama-ike (about 5,000 m²), has been designated a Natural Monument and Place of Scenic Beauty since 1954: it lies where a Fuji lava flow of 10–17 thousand years ago ends, the ‘Mishima lava flow’, and that is why the water level changes every day with the water table.

The park is now run by the municipality of Mishima, three minutes on foot from the south exit of the station, and it also has a small animal enclosure. The spring belongs to the same geological family as the Kakita-gawa river, the one-kilometre watercourse (the shortest Class A river in Japan) fed by the same Fuji seepage water.

ℹ️ April–October 9:00–17:00 (last entry 16:30), November–March 9:00–16:30 (last entry 16:00). Closed on Mondays (unless it is a public holiday, in which case it closes on the following weekday) and over the year-end and New Year period. Admission 300 yen for adults, free up to junior high.

🚉 Mishima · 8 min walk

Sources: city.mishima.shizuoka.jp · city.mishima.shizuoka.jp · city.mishima.shizuoka.jp

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