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The garden, along with the Iso Palace, were constructed in [[1658]], by [[Shimazu Mitsuhisa]]. The site was used for the personal leisure of the ''daimyô'', as well as for entertaining guests, including officials from the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]], and a pavilion said to have been a gift from the King of Ryûkyû still stands on the grounds. Notable elements within the garden include the pewter-roofed main gate, and a set of lanterns said to have been the first gaslamps in Japan. The garden uses the "borrowed scenery" technique to borrow [[Kinko Bay|Kinkô Bay]] and [[Sakurajima]] into its arrangement, with the intention of producing the illusion of the two being merely a small hill in a pond, just beyond the walls.
The garden, along with the Iso Palace, were constructed in [[1658]], by [[Shimazu Mitsuhisa]]. The site was used for the personal leisure of the ''daimyô'', as well as for entertaining guests, including officials from the [[Ryukyu Kingdom|Ryûkyû Kingdom]], and a pavilion said to have been a gift from the King of Ryûkyû still stands on the grounds. Notable elements within the garden include the pewter-roofed main gate, and a set of lanterns said to have been the first gaslamps in Japan. The garden uses the "borrowed scenery" technique to borrow [[Kinko Bay|Kinkô Bay]] and [[Sakurajima]] into its arrangement, with the intention of producing the illusion of the two being merely a small hill in a pond, just beyond the walls.
The garden is also home to the oldest ''kyokusui'' garden in Japan,<ref>A style of garden designed to allow for imitation of the famous Orchid Pavilion Gathering organized by [[Wang Xizhi]] in [[353]], in which participants floated wine cups on a small stream within Wang's garden, and played a game of trying to compose a poem before the next cup passed them.</ref> and a variety of [[Bakumatsu period|Bakumatsu]]/[[Meiji period]] technological innovations, including a hydroelectric dam which powered not only the factories of the Shûseikan complex, but also electric lights within the Iso residence. The first gaslamp in Japan was lit within a stone lantern in the garden in [[1857]].<ref>Plaque for gaslights on "History and Culture Street," just outside the walls and moat of the former site of [[Kagoshima castle]].[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/15210448476/sizes/l]</ref>
The Ryukyuan pavilion, known as ''Bôgakurô'' (Pavilion for Admiring the Peak [i.e. Sakurajima]), is a small, simple square structure, in a style typically known in mainland Japan as ''azumaya''. It features a tiled floor, with tiles supposedly based on those of the [[Epang Palace]] of [[Qin Shihuangdi|the First Emperor of Qin]], low to the ground, with short wooden fencing around the site, and a simple tiled roof. A plaque hung on the inside, reading ''bôgakurô'', is done in the style of the calligraphy of [[Wang Xizhi]]. Believed to have originally been given to the Shimazu as a gift from the king of Ryûkyû in the early 17th century, it was the site in the mid-19th century of a significant meeting between [[Katsu Kaishu|Katsu Kaishû]] and [[Shimazu Nariakira]].
The garden is also home to the oldest ''kyokusui'' garden in Japan,<ref>A style of garden designed to allow for imitation of the famous Orchid Pavilion Gathering organized by Wang Xizhi in [[353]], in which participants floated wine cups on a small stream within Wang's garden, and played a game of trying to compose a poem before the next cup passed them.</ref> and a variety of [[Bakumatsu period|Bakumatsu]]/[[Meiji period]] technological innovations, including a hydroelectric dam which powered not only the factories of the Shûseikan complex, but also electric lights within the Iso residence. The first gaslamp in Japan was lit within a stone lantern in the garden in [[1857]].<ref>Plaque for gaslights on "History and Culture Street," just outside the walls and moat of the former site of [[Kagoshima castle]].[https://www.flickr.com/photos/toranosuke/15210448476/sizes/l]</ref>
The Iso Palace became the chief Kagoshima residence of the Shimazu following the [[Meiji Restoration]]. Most of the compound was renovated in [[1884]], and about a third of the residence's buildings survive today.
The Iso Palace became the chief Kagoshima residence of the Shimazu following the [[Meiji Restoration]]. Most of the compound was renovated in [[1884]], and about a third of the residence's buildings survive today.
