Ritsurin Garden

Ritsurin was begun in 1625 by Ikoma Takatoshi, lord of Takamatsu, and completed in 1745 by the Matsudaira lords who followed him, after about a century of work, and covers roughly seventy-five hectares, which makes it the largest garden designated a Special Place of Scenic Beauty in Japan - considerably larger than any of the three great gardens, a fact Kagawa points out regularly. The design is six ponds and thirteen artificial hills laid out against Mount Shiun, which is used as borrowed scenery and gives the garden its enclosing wall on one side. The pines are the labour: about a thousand of them are shaped, and roughly half are hand-pruned individually each year by garden staff, which is why they hold their form. Kikugetsutei, a tea house from the seventeenth century, sits on the south pond and serves matcha looking out over the water. A boat can be taken on the south pond.

History

In 1625 Ikoma Takatoshi, lord of Takamatsu, began a garden around the South Pond with Mount Shiun as its backdrop; Matsudaira Yorishige carried it on, and the fifth lord, Yoritaka, completed it in 1745 after 100 years of work. The Meiji government took over the garden in 1868 and opened it to the public on 16 March 1875, and it was named a Special Place of Scenic Beauty in 1953 (Wikipedia, Ritsurin Garden).

What you'll find

• Six ponds, thirteen hills - a seventy-five hectare layout built over a century.
• Mount Shiun borrowed - the mountain used as the garden's backdrop and edge.
• A thousand pines - about half hand-pruned individually every year.
• Kikugetsutei - a seventeenth-century tea house serving matcha over the water.

When to go

April for cherry, late November for colour. Two to three hours.

Practical notes

It is large and covering it properly takes longer than people expect. Entry is charged, and the tea house and boat are extra. Summer in Takamatsu is hot and humid with little shade on the open paths. The north garden is plainer than the south.

Nearby

Takamatsu port and the Setouchi island ferries are north.

Key facts