The Hori Mansion & Gardens

 

The Hori Family Mansion is located in a narrow valley about 9 kilometers from Tsuwano Castle, and I have always presumed they were high-ranking vassals of that domain.

It turns out they are not connected to the domain at all, in fact the five villages around their property were an enclave directly ruled by the Tokugawa Shogunate and administered from Omori, at Iwami Ginzan.

The Hori operated the copper and silver mines in the area. Following the Meiji Restoration in 1868 they started to buy up copper mines all over western Japan, and the 15th-generation family head Hori Reizo earned the nickname Chugoku Copper King.

It was he who built the sukiya-style, two storey guesthouse here called Rakusanso with its pond garden featured in this post.

It is a National Site of Scenic Beauty, and there are actually three gardens here.

There is a small, karesansui garden along the side of the mainhouse which is older than the big pond garden, but on this visit, I didn't photograph it.

Also, across the road, is another garden with multiple ponds called Warakuen, and I only took one photo of it, the final photo in this post.

The main house was built in 1785 and features a three tatami tearoom pictured in photos 3 and 4 above.

The two-storey Rakanso was built between 1897 and 1900

Viewing the garden from the second floor veranda is particularly nice.

The stroll garden features a couple of small bridges, and 17 stone lanterns plus a tall stone pagoda.

There is a small waterfall built into the hillside that borders the garden.

The koi in the pond, when I visited, were all of a golden-yellow breed.

The island in the pond is considered a Dejima, and not a turtle island or a crane island.

For this interested in traditional architecture, both the Edo-period main house and the Meiji-period Rakanso guest house are well worth exploring.

For those interested in gardens, the three gardens are also well worth a visit though I didn't photograph the older, karesansui garden of the main house, nor really explored the Warakuen garden across the road, and my photos of the Rakanso garden are really not all that good

It is quite difficult to reach the Hori residence and gardens without a car. There are only a couple of buses a day. It would be possible by rental cycle, of which there are many in Tsuwano. The upside is that it will not be crowded.

This visit was almost twenty years ago, and I will definitely be making a return visit as I have a deeper interest in the traditional architecture and gardens now.

I will be sure to visit in the late Autumn when the colours will make the gardens more beautiful and perhaps clearer.

The previous post in this series on the delights of Tsuwano was on the colour and pageantry of the Great Spring Festival at Taikodani Inari Shrine.

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Great Spring Festival at Taikodani Inari Shrine

 

Shunki Taisai translates to "Great Spring Festival," although, as far as I can tell, it is not a very common event.

In May 2011 we went down to Taikodani Inari Shrine in Tsuwano for their Shunki Taisai. As far as I know, they have not held one since.

It was quite a grand affair, with numerous priests, mikos, and representatives of the town dressed in samurai outfits.

I was very surprised to see some of the miko wearing swords.... don't think I have seen that before...

a Himorogi was set up in the shrines open courtyard. A himorogi is an area demarcated with 4 bamboos with shimenawa. It is believed this was the form shrines took in ancient times before they utilized buildings a la Buddhism.

First, the miko purified each other and then the townsmen.

Then it was the turn of the priests....

One of the great things about Tsuwano is that there are never crowds, so events such as this, or the Heron Dance or even Yabusame, you can get close to the action, not view things from a distance at the back of a crowd like at the major tourist destinations...

All the participants lined up and awaited the Guji, head priest.

The Guji arrives under the shade of a ceremonial parasol....

Then all the participants follow in procession and line up inside the himorogi...

Offerings are made and norito are read....

The guji then leads the procession up into the main hall of the shrine where further rituals are held.

later in the afternoon we watched kagura in a building half-way down the hill belwo the shrine...

The previous post in this series on Tsuwano was on the Taikodani Inari Shrine where this festival took place.

if you would like to subscribe by email, just leave your email address in the comments below. It will not be published or made public. I post new content almost every day, and send out an email about twice a month with short descriptions and links to the most recent posts.