Registered Monuments of Tochigi

Tucked into the foothills of Ashikaga in Tochigi Prefecture, Gankaen is a late-Edo-period literati garden traditionally attributed to the Nanga painter Tani Bunchō and named by his disciple Watanabe Kazan. Built around a natural chert bedrock slope, its dramatic artificial mountain and waterfall stone arrangement made it the first garden in Tochigi to be registered as a National Place of Scenic Beauty. Seven historic buildings are also nationally registered, and the property still operates as a cultural-property inn beloved by writers and artists across generations.

Created in late Meiji-era Ashikaga, the Shindo Family Garden uses a dramatic five-meter elevation difference to produce a vertical garden composition virtually without parallel in Japan. A three-meter waterfall, an S-shaped pond, and a two-story detached residence form a single integrated landscape designated a National Registered Monument (Place of Scenic Beauty). Normally a private residence, it occasionally opens during Ashikaga's autumn cultural heritage events.

Butsugaiken Garden in Ashikaga, Tochigi is a serene Meiji-period tea garden registered as a National Place of Scenic Beauty. Centered on a refined tea house built by a wealthy local merchant and relocated here in 1901, the garden combines a double tea-garden path, a pond with crane and turtle islands, mossy stones and lanterns. Open only on weekends in spring and autumn, it offers an intimate window into Ashikaga's merchant tea culture.