Saturday, June 19, 2021

Chofuteien Garden

Chofuteien Garden

Chofu, a former castle town not far from Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi, was a base of the Mori Clan and though not so well known or visited is actually a delightful place for a visit.


Chofuteien is a large stroll-type garden that opened to the public in 1993. These photos are from a visit I made on November 27th, 2014, on my 24th day walking the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage. I had been here before in the late spring when everything was green, but the autumn colors were really spectacular.


It is on the site of the former manor of Nishi Yukinaga, the most senior of the Mori vassals.


In the middle of the 31,000 sq meter garden is a large pond, with koi, and a couple of bridges over it as well as stepping stones.


There is a small teahouse looking over the pond and a large summer house as well as a couple of white-walled storehoues, one of which hosts exhibitions.


The path heads up into the woods to a waterfall and heads back down to the storehouses through a bamboo grove and areas planted in a variety of seasonal flowers.


There are two more gardens in the old town, one a temple garden in a large Zen temple, and the other in the Mori Mansion. If readers requested it I could post on them soon.


Buy dokudami tea from Japan

4 comments:

  1. A very nice garden. I went there in May 2009 as part of a day trip to Shimonoseki from Fukuoka. I returned to Shimonoseki in December 2017 on another visit - I skipped the garden that time, but did explore the Chofu area.

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  2. Yes, I would like to see your photos of the gardens at the Zen Temple and the Mori Mansion. Thank you Jake. Always enjoy reading and viewing your postings.

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