Chofuteien Garden

Chofuteien Garden

Strong, early morning Winter sunlight. Not a whisp of a cloud in the sky. Not a slightest breeze to disturb the mirrored surface of the water. Autumn colours in full splendour. What great fortune to encounter all these conditions at the same time when visiting 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 storehouses, 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.

The previous post in this series on my walk along the Chugoku Kannon Pilgrimage was on temple 18, Sorinji.

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