View source for Rikugien

*''Built: c. [[1699]]-[[1706]], [[Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu]]''
*''Japanese'': 六義園 ''(Rikugien)''

The Rikugien, or Six Virtues Gardens, in [[Tokyo|Tokyo's]] Bunkyô-ku, was one of the first publicly accessible municipal gardens or parks in Japan. Built around [[1699]] to [[1706]] by [[Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu]] in [[Edo]], it is still extant and open to the public today.

Prior to Yoshiyasu's construction of the garden, in [[1657]], the [[Maeda clan]] of [[Kaga han]] built their ''[[daimyo yashiki|naka-yashiki]]'' (middle mansion) on the site. The mansion was later demoted to ''shimo-yashiki'' (lower mansion), and in [[1695]], a portion of its grounds was given by [[Shogun]] [[Tokugawa Tsunayoshi]] to Yoshiyasu as his own 27,000 ''[[Japanese Measurements|tsubo]]'' lower mansion. Yoshiyasu then began constructing a garden on the site, naming it "Rikugien" after a line from a [[waka|poem]] by [[Ki no Tsurayuki]]. The garden would continue to house the [[Yanagisawa clan]] lower mansion until the [[Bakumatsu period]].

The garden covers roughly 25 acres (10 ''ha''), and includes an artificial lake and small hills arranged in the style of a private aristocratic or samurai garden, though on a larger scale. Open to the public, it became a popular place for townspeople of Edo to gather for seasonal celebrations such as ''[[hanami]]'' (appreciating [[cherry blossoms]] in spring), and ''[[momijigari]]'' (admiring the leaves changing color in fall), as well as other occasions. [[Courtesans]] also came to frequently display themselves in the gardens.

In the process of the [[Meiji Restoration]], the garden became [[Meiji government|government]] property, and fell into considerable disrepair. It was purchased and restored in [[1878]] by [[Iwasaki Yataro|Iwasaki Yatarô]], founder of [[Mitsubishi]]. His younger brother and successor [[Iwasaki Yanosuke]] and eldest son [[Iwasaki Hisaya]] continued the restoration of the gardens after Yatarô's death, and its expansion to 120,000 ''tsubo''. In [[1905]], they organized a large event at the gardens honoring [[Togo Heihachiro|Tôgô Heihachirô]] and 6,000 of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] sailors under his command for their service in the [[Russo-Japanese War]]. Iwasaki Hisaya donated the gardens to the city of Tokyo in 1938.<ref>Gallery labels, Tôyô Bunko.[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/35953134521/sizes/h/]</ref>

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==References==
*Penelope Mason. ''History of Japanese Art''. Second Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005. p275.
*Gallery labels, Tôyô Bunko.
*Signs on-site at Rikugien.
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==External Links==
*[https://www.google.com/maps/place/%E5%85%AD%E7%BE%A9%E5%9C%92/@35.7331386,139.7465135,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x60188dbe6eb193d5:0x6f30336a163ceb71 Rikugien on Google Maps]

[[Category:Edo Period]]
[[Category:Historic Buildings]]