Best Vertical Garden Tokyo Near Me

4worldlovers: A large garden on the north side of the Japanese Gallery (Honkan) adds seasonal colors to the Tokyo National Museum. Be sure to visit the garden in addition to the galleries when you come to the Museum. The five historic teahouses in the garden can be booked for tea ceremonies and other events, such as haiku gatherings.


Please note: The Museum Garden may be closed due to bad weather or for maintenance.


The teahouse Shunsoro was originally constructed as a resting hut by Kawamura Zuigen (1618-1699), the renowned Edo-period merchant and civil engineer, during improvement works of the Settsu Yodogawa River. First relocated to Osaka, then further on to the Sankeien Garden in Yokohama by Hara Tomitaro (Sankei, 1863-1939) himself, a famous silk merchant. The industrialist Matsunaga Yasuzaemon (Jian, 1875-1971) moved the structure once again in 1937 into the premises of his Yanase Villa in Saitama. In 1948, Matsunaga donated the entire Yanase Villa to the Tokyo National Museum and in 1959, Shunsoro finally settled in the current location. Its wooden nameplate of Shunsoro, hanging on the gable, was based on the script by the well-known master calligrapher Manshuin Ryosho-Shinno (1622-1693) and was a gift from Hara to Matsunaga.


The teahouse Tengoan was originally built in Rokujizo in Fushimi, Kyoto by the famous tea master Kobori Enshu (1579-1647), who built the teahouse to show people a tea caddy named "Odaimyo", gifted to him by the imperial Hachijo no Miya family. After being passed down to Jakkoji temple in Kyoto, the structure of Tengoan was then inherited by Watanabe Kiyoshi (a baron, governor of Fukuoka prefecture and mayor of Fukushima prefecture), who proceeded to relocate the teahouse to Kasumicho in Asabu, Tokyo in 1878. The ownership of Tengoan was subsequently passed on to Mihara Shigeyoshi, an employee at the NYK shipping company and a collector of ukiyo-e. Mihara also came into the possession of "Odaimyo", so the tea caddy was reunited once again with Tengoan. After passing into the hands of Shiobara Matasaku, the founder of pharmaceutical company Sankyo (now Daiichi Sankyo), Tengoan and "Odaimyo" were both then donated to the Tokyo National Museum by Shiobara's wife Mrs. Shiobara Chiyo in 1963.


It was built during the Keian era (mid-17th century) within the premises of Jigen'in of the Kofukuji temple in Nara according to a style preferred by Kanamori Sowa (1584-1656). Rokusoan was known as one of the three most representative teahouses in Yamato area, another one being the Hassoan (located in the Nara National Museum compound). The Tokyo National Museum acquired the teahouse in 1875, but during its transportation the ship sank near Izu Peninsula. Fortunately the wooden material was recovered and in 1877 it was reconstructed at the Museum. During the World War II it was once again evacuated from Tokyo and in September 1947 finally reconstructed at the current location by Kimura Seibei, a great master carpenter of sukiya-style architecture. Other facilities like the preparation room, the waiting shelter as well as the outdoor seats were designed by Kohitsu Ryochu and added to the building in 1881. The shihobutsu-suiban-type washing basin (made from stones pagoda bodies, with four images of Buddha representing each of the four directions) at the entrance was originally a part of the pagoda of the Hosshoji in Yamashiro, built by the chief advisor to the Emperor, Fujiwara Tadahira in 925. This basin was once transferred to Ginkakuji, and after passing through various hands it then became part of the Museum collection in 1885.


It was built in 1742 as a shoin (study/drawing room) at the Myogen'in temple of the Tendai school of Buddhism in the country of Owari (present day Oharucho, Aichi prefecture). After being relocated to the villa of Masuda Takashi (Donno, 1848-1938) in Shinagawa, Tokyo, it was donated to the Tokyo National Museum in 1933 to be moved to the current location. The ink paintings on the interior walls and sliding doors (the current installations are high-resolution digital reproductions) by Maruyama Okyo (1733-1795) are supposedly executed in 1784, when the painter resided at the Myogen'in under eye treatment. The tokoharitsuke paper panels depict old pine trees, stones and bamboo, whilst on the Koshishoji panels are young pine trees as well as stones and bamboo.

Originally located in the residence of the Kujo Family within the imperial palace compound in Kyoto, it was relocated to the Kujo Villa in Akasaka, Tokyo, where the family head of the clan used to dwell. The Kujo family donated it to the Museum in 1934, and it was moved to the current location. The interior walls decked with painted paper panels tokoharitsuke and the fusuma sliding doors are adorned with paintings of landscape with pavilion by the Kano school. The transom made of a single Chinese quince wood piece display fine openwork of Japanese Wisteria lozenges.