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Ritsurin Garden

December 7, 2012 by Jonas Dupuich

Among the more popular destinations in Kagawa is Ritsurin Garden. Built in the 17th and 18th centuries, the garden comprises 6 ponds and 13 small hills in the shadow of Mt Shiun. The park served as the private villa estate for 11 lords of the Matsudaira family for 228 years up until the Meiji Restoration in 1868. It’s been open to the public since 1875.

Here are some of the highlights from my visit to the garden last year.

Bridge

Engetsu-kyo Bridge

Pond

Pines among the rocks

Pond

Fall color

Pond

Maples

Geometric shrubs

Geometric pruning

Bridge

Engetsu-kyo Bridge

Pond

Gun’o-chi Pond

Pagoda

Pagoda

Pond

Pond

Bridge

Bridge – trickier to navigate than I imagined

Pebble garden

Stepping stones

Water basin

Water basin

Pond

Lilies

Pond

Mt. Shiun

Sago palm

Sago palms

Thatched roof

Thatch roof

Old tree

Old tree

Pond

Lake

Feeding fish

Feeding fish

Feeding fish

Enjoying the garden

Pond

Fall color

Bridge

Nanko Lake

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Filed Under: Excursions Tagged With: Japan

Previous Post: « Chrysanthemums on display
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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. japanesepots says

    December 7, 2012 at 6:29 am

    Jonas,
    Is the same Family from which the early 20th century Count Matsudaira, founder of Shohin bonsai, comes?

  2. Jonas Dupuich says

    December 7, 2012 at 11:44 am

    Good question – my information on the topic is limited to the text from the garden brochure.

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