Suizenji Garden

Suizenji Jojuen was begun in 1636 by the Hosokawa lords of Kumamoto, and its organising idea is a compressed version of the Tokaido - the road between Kyoto and Edo - with its fifty-three post stations represented as hills, ponds and features around a circuit of about twenty minutes. The set piece is a conical grassed mound standing for Mount Fuji, which is the image the garden is known by and which reads better in photographs than at eye level. The spring water that fills the pond comes from Mount Aso's aquifer and is clear enough to see the bottom across the whole surface. Izumi Shrine stands in the grounds, along with Kokindenju no Ma, a small thatched tea house moved here from the Kyoto imperial palace in 1912, where matcha is served facing the pond. It is small and close to the city centre.

What you actually see

• A miniature Tokaido - the fifty-three stations compressed into a short circuit.
• The grassed Fuji - a conical mound standing for the mountain.
• Aso spring water - a clear pond fed from the volcano's aquifer.
• Kokindenju no Ma - a tea house moved from the Kyoto imperial palace in 1912.

When to go

All year. An hour. Early morning before the coach parties.

Honest expectations

It is small - an hour is enough, and some find it slight for the entry price. The miniature Fuji looks better in photographs than in person. Surrounding buildings show over the walls. Coach parties fill the circuit mid-morning.

Nearby

Kumamoto Castle is north-west; Mount Aso is east.