Hamarikyu Gardens
After visiting the Tsukiji Outer Market, we decided to walk most of the way to our hotel and stop at the Hamarikyu Gardens (浜離宮恩賜庭園). It was basically on the way, and since the hotel and subway station were only one stop apart, it was either walk here from the market, or take the train to the hotel and walk (back) to the gardens. The walk wasn’t too bad, though it was about 85°F and humid.
We walked around the garden for about two hours, despite intermittent light rain, and then returned to our nearby hotel for a brief rest before our evening adventure.
History (沿革)
Once the gardens of successive Tokugawa shoguns, Hama-rikyu Gardens features a seawater pond whose levels change with the tides, as well as two kamoba, or duck hunting sites, within the grounds. It originally functioned as a dejiro, or branch castle, of Edo Castle in the Edo Period. In 1654, Matsudaira Tsunashige, the ruler of Kofu and the younger brother of Ietsuna, the 4th Tokugawa shogun, had part of a falconry filled in and built a residence on the reclaimed land. This residence came to be known as the Kofu Hamayashiki (Kofu Beach Pavilion). When Tsunashige’s son, Tsunatoyo (later Ienobu), became the 6th shogun, the residence became a detached residence for the shogun, and the name of the residence and its grounds were changed to Hama Goten (Beach Palace). From that time onward, successive shoguns continued to build and upgrade the gardens. They were completed under the guidance of the 11th Tokugawa shogun, Ienari, and would have looked almost exactly as they appear today.
After the Meiji Restoration of 1868, the gardens became a villa for the Imperial family, and the name was changed to Hama-rikyu (Hama means Detached Palace). The Great Kanto Earthquake and World War II bombings caused extensive damage to many buildings and vegetation, rendering the gardens unrecognizable. On November 3, 1945, the Imperial family donated the gardens to the City of Tokyo. After they were repaired, the gardens were opened to the public in April 1946. On November 22, Hama-rikyu Gardens was officially designated by the national government as a place of extraordinary scenic beauty and special historic interest.