Suizenji Jojuen Garden

The Story of Suizenji Jojuen

The garden's beginnings trace back to 1632 (Kanei 9), when Hosokawa Tadatoshi, the first Hosokawa lord of Higo Province, built a teahouse retreat (otchaya) on this site of bountiful springs. Tadatoshi also founded a small Zen temple here for the monk Genjaku, who had followed the family from Buzen Province; the temple was named Suizenji, and that name stuck to the place even after the temple itself was abolished a generation later.

The garden as we see it today owes most of its form to Hosokawa Tsunatoshi, the third Hosokawa lord of Kumamoto. According to the Hosokawa family's Eisei Bunko archives, large-scale construction of the new teahouse and garden took place between 1670 and 1671. Tsunatoshi, a learned man fond of Chinese poetry from his youth, named the garden "Jojuen" after a line from the Chinese poet Tao Yuanming's Guiqulai ci: "園日渉以成趣" — "by walking the garden each day, its charm naturally takes shape."

After the abolition of the feudal domains in the early Meiji era, the garden became state property and fell into ruin during the Satsuma Rebellion of 1877. The teahouse "Suigetsutei" was destroyed by fire. The following year, former retainers of the Hosokawa clan founded Izumi Shrine on the grounds to enshrine the spirits of the lords, and successfully petitioned for the garden to be returned as the shrine's precincts. Izumi Shrine has cared for Suizenji Jojuen ever since.

Why Suizenji Jojuen Was Designated a National Treasure of Scenery

Suizenji Jojuen received its dual designation as a National Place of Scenic Beauty and National Historic Site on December 17, 1929. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records describe it as "an exquisite stroll-style hill-and-water garden, with floating stones and stepping stones arranged in the central pond, and many low and high artificial hills behind, some clothed in trees and others in turf — a refined hill-and-water garden of unparalleled freshness, with springs welling up and overflowing into the pond."

Several qualities set the garden apart. First, the entire pond is fed not by a stream but by underground springs welling directly up from the Aso volcanic aquifer; the water-table itself is the centerpiece. Second, the design is widely held to be a kind of "miniature landscape" garden (shukkei) that condenses the famous fifty-three stations of the Tokaido — the great highway between Edo and Kyoto — into a single walkable circuit, complete with a Mount Fuji-shaped hill. Third, the garden preserves the aesthetic of the early Edo Momoyama lineage almost intact, an increasingly rare survival.

Highlights and Things to See

Visiting the Garden

Suizenji Jojuen is open every day of the year from 8:30 to 17:00, with last admission at 16:30. The garden is owned and operated by Izumi Shrine. A leisurely circuit of the main path takes about thirty to forty minutes; allow extra time for a tea break at Kokin Denju-no-Ma. The garden is a short walk from the Kumamoto City Tram (Suizenjikoen stop, A-line), making it easily reachable from Kumamoto Station or central Kumamoto.

The garden has no dedicated visitor parking, but several paid lots are nearby. Visitors paying their respects at Izumi Shrine for a formal blessing are admitted free of charge to the garden. Free Japanese-English audio guides and wheelchair rentals are available at the main gate.

Around the Garden

The approach to the main gate is lined with a charming row of small shops and eateries selling Kumamoto specialties: ikinari dango (sweet potato dumplings), karashi-renkon (mustard-stuffed lotus root), horse sashimi, and Kumamoto's own ramen. Within easy reach are Kumamoto Castle, one of Japan's three great castles; the natural spring lake of Ezuko, popular for boating and birdwatching; and the Kumamoto Prefectural Museum of Art. The whole area is part of the "city of clear water" — Kumamoto's tap water is supplied entirely from the same volcanic aquifer that fills the garden's pond.