Built by Mito Domain’s 9th feudal lord, Tokugawa Nariaki. One of Japan’s three famous gardens along with Kenrokuen in Kanazawa and Korakuen in Okayama.
The almost 32-acre garden has many tourism spots. Entering from the east gate, you will see the wooden two-layer, three-story Kobuntei, Nariaki’s second residence. The simple structure with a wooden board and thatched roofs is clean and elegant. A stone foundation, chessboard and table stone are laid at Senekidai at the southern edge of a hill, looking down at the scenic Senba Lake. There remains Nangai-no-Dokutsu, a cave where the tuff used for building waterways and wells were mined. It lets you think of the old days when the cave supported Mito Domain’s enterprise.
Stop by at the monument with a poem on the snowy Senba Lake at dusk, the monument of a poem made by Masaoka Shiki who visited here in the late 1800s, the bamboo forest that remains green throughout the year, or 800-year-old Taro cedar.
In early spring, about 3000 plum trees in almost 100 species bloom. Between mid-February and late March, the annual Mito Plum Blossom Festival is held.
Highlights
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Mito Domain’s 9th feudal lord, Tokugawa Nariaki created the neat garden.
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Simple and elegant Kobuntei is the symbol of this garden.
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There are an evergreen bamboo forest and 800-year-old Taro cedar.
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In early spring, the annual Mito Plum Blossom Festival is held.