Ritsurin Garden

Background

Ritsurin Garden lies in Ritsurin-cho, Takamatsu City, Kagawa Prefecture, at the eastern foot of Mount Shiun, and is a strolling-style daimyo garden first laid out in the early Edo period. It has 6 ponds and 13 artificial hills set against Mount Shiun, and about 1,000 hand-pruned pines, each with its own shape, combine with maples, azaleas, and seasonal plum, cherry, lotus, iris, and bush clover to create the garden's "new view at every step". The view from Hiraiho hill over Engetsukyo Bridge and Kikugetsu-tei is the garden's classic scene. Including Mount Shiun, the grounds cover about 75 hectares, the largest of Japan's gardens designated as cultural properties. The garden consists of the South Garden and the North Garden: the South Garden keeps the appearance of an early-Edo daimyo garden, while the North Garden, once the site of a villa and a duck-hunting ground, was remodeled in a modern garden style in the early Taisho period. The grounds also hold the Sanuki Folk Craft Museum and the Shoko Shoreikan hall. In 1953 Ritsurin Garden was designated a National Special Place of Scenic Beauty.

Local customs

• Walk the pond-circuit route along Hiraiho hill, Engetsukyo Bridge, and Kikugetsu-tei
• ride a Japanese wooden boat to see the garden from the South Pond
• enjoy matcha and the view in a teahouse
• visit the Sanuki Folk Craft Museum and the Shoko Shoreikan inside the garden.

Travel tips

• Admission is at the usual park level, with details subject to official information
• the grounds are large, so allow plenty of time and wear shoes suited to walking. Spring cherry blossoms, fresh summer greenery, autumn leaves, and winter calm each have their appeal, and plum, azalea, iris, bush clover, and other flowers bloom in turn through the seasons
• during the cherry-blossom and autumn-foliage seasons there are night illuminations, and the lights reflected on the water are a highlight, with dates subject to official announcements.
• Take the JR Kotoku Line to Ritsurin-Koen-Kitaguchi Station, then walk about 3 minutes to the north gate
• take the Takamatsu-Kotohira Electric Railroad Kotohira Line to Ritsurin-Koen Station, then walk about 15 minutes to the east gate
• by bus, the "Ritsurin-Koen-mae" stop is right at the garden, with schedules subject to official information.