Ritsurin Kōen

photo by ブルーノ・プラス · CC BY-SA 4.0

photo by ブルーノ・プラス · CC BY-SA 4.0

Six ponds, thirteen artificial hills, a thousand pines tended over a hundred years of work.

The path crosses six ponds and thirteen artificial hills, with Mount Shiun as a backdrop: no point reveals the next, and every step opens up a different view. About a thousand black pines, shaped by generations of resident gardeners, are among the 1,400 trees recorded. The Kikugetsu-tei teahouse, on the southern pond, has two stars in the Michelin Green Guide Japan.

Begun as a villa of the lords of the Matsudaira clan, feudal rulers of Takamatsu, the garden was completed in 1745 under the fifth daimyō after generations of enlargement. Opened to the public in 1875 as a prefectural park, it is the largest of Japan's gardens designated a national Special Place of Scenic Beauty (about 75 hectares in total, 16 of them garden proper).

ℹ️ Open all year with seasonal hours: opening from 5:30 (April–September) to 7:00 (January, December) in the morning, closing between 17:00 and 19:00 depending on the month. Tickets 500 yen adults, 170 yen elementary/junior high school children; free on 1 January and 16 March (the anniversary of the opening). Traditional rowing boats on the southern pond, for a fee.

🚉 Ritsurinkōen Kitaguchi · 8 min walk

Sources: ja.wikipedia.org · art-takamatsu.com · ritsuringarden.com

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