Sengan-en

Sengan-en was built in 1658 as a villa of the Shimazu, the lords of Satsuma, on the shore of Kagoshima Bay, and it uses shakkei more boldly than any other garden in Japan: the borrowed scenery is Sakurajima, an active volcano four kilometres across the water, standing in the position an ornamental hill would occupy, with the bay itself as the pond. Ash falls on the garden regularly, which is part of maintaining it. The residence is open and furnished. Behind the garden are the Shoko Shuseikan works, where the Shimazu built one of Japan's earliest Western-style industrial complexes in the 1850s - a reverberatory furnace, glassworks and machine shop; the stone machinery factory survives and is part of a UNESCO industrial heritage inscription. Satsuma kiriko cut glass is still made in a workshop on the site.

History

Shimazu Mitsuhisa built the residence in 1658, naming it after a feature it was thought to resemble on Longhu Mountain in China, and in 1736 Shimazu Yoshitaka added a kyokusui stream and moso bamboo brought from China by way of the Ryūkyū Kingdom. In the last years of the shogunate and the Meiji era the residence received visitors such as Katsu Kaishū and the Dutch Willem Huyssen van Kattendijke and Pompe van Meerdervoort in 1858, Harry Parkes in 1866, the Russian heir Nicholas and Prince George of Greece in 1891, the Duke of Connaught in 1906 and the future Edward VIII in 1922. With the neighbouring Shōko Shūseikan it is part of the Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution World Heritage Site (Wikipedia, Sengan-en).

What you'll find

• A volcano as garden hill - Sakurajima borrowed across the bay as the composition's centre.
• The Shimazu residence - the 1658 villa open and furnished.
• Shoko Shuseikan - an 1850s industrial complex, UNESCO-listed, with the stone factory surviving.
• Satsuma kiriko - cut glass still made in a workshop in the grounds.

When to go

All year. Two to three hours. Clear mornings for Sakurajima.

Good to know

Sakurajima is often hidden by cloud or its own plume, which removes the point of the design. Ash on paths and benches is normal. Entry to the residence is a separate charge. Summer in Kagoshima is very hot.

Nearby

Sakurajima is across the bay by ferry; Kagoshima city is south-west.

Key facts