Kiyosumi Garden

On March 28, 2019, the last day of our pre-trip, we boarded a coach that took us to the beautiful Kiyosumi Garden. On this occasion, Yoshi had asked us if his wife could accompany him as it was the last day of this small group and of course, we said yes.

Here is what our guide Yoshi had to say about this garden when he wrote our daily email to us.

“We arrived at our 1^st stop Kiyosumi garden around 09:40 am. It as a beautiful Japanese garden.

That garden was the site of the residence of the famous Edo Period business magnate, Kinokuniya Bunzaemon,紀伊国屋文左衛門. In later years (1716 to 1736), it became the property of the Edo residence of the Local Lord of Sekiyado、関宿 castle, Shimofusa-no-kuni、下総国 (part of present-day Chiba prefecture) and this is the period when the basic form of the garden came into existence.

In 1878, the founder of Mitsubishi, Iwasaki Yataro, 岩崎弥太郎、chose this property to use a garden for the enjoyment of his employees and entertainment of important guests. The waters of the Sumidagawa、墨田川、 were brought into the grounds to make the pond. Hills and waterless waterfalls were constructed and famous rocks from all over Japan were brought in to embellish the garden. The garden was completed in the Meiji Period and developed into a famous strolling-style tree-filled design centred around a large pond. We enjoyed that garden, especially the stepping stones and the cherry blossoms.”

The day was overcast but not raining and I found the garden to be very beautiful, though I must say I would prefer touring gardens by myself and not in a group where I can wander at my leisure and sit and contemplate the garden on my time, not rush through in under an hour.

Click on the arrows above to show all of the images. There is a few of them! 

Edo Tokyo Museum

From the garden, we headed to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. I found the museum interesting and there was a performance of traditional dance while we were there which was really fascinating.

The driveway outside the Museum was completely lined with cherry trees and they were all in full bloom. Beautiful.

Click on the arrows on the pictures above to show all of the images. 

Nippori Fabric Town

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel and we had a free afternoon as Yoshi had to be at the hotel to welcome the people that were joining us for the main trip. Karen needed a few things that she had forgotten to bring and so Yoshi’s wife volunteered to go shopping with Karen to get those items.

Me, I really wanted to go to the Nippori Fabric Town (what a surprise) and one of our other group members Denise, who was a crafter, really wanted to go there too, so we headed out to the subway station where we had to make two transfers and use google maps to find the place.

Nippori Fabric Town is one whole street of fabric shops with everything a sewist or crafter could want or imagine. Denis and I had a fabulous time checking out as many stores as we could in the 2 hours we had before heading back to our hotel. We met up with her husband and then headed for dinner at a local Thai restaurant of all places. The food was really good.

So ends the first week of my Japan trip. Next up the start of the Japan Cultural Treasures Tour.