The past few days have been cold, wet and windy, with much of the same for the days to come. However, yesterday was our day off (Sasha’s only day off in the week) and luck dealt us a favourable hand with warm weather and sunny blue skies. Our back-up plan of having a Museum-Monday was redundant – Plan A, here we come. High up on our to-do list, Suizenji Koen (Suizenji Park) is a well-known and much-visited park, and we had high expectations.
In 1636, Lord Hosokawa Tadatoshi began construction of the garden and tea house. The location was chosen for its spring-fed pond, the water of which was known to be excellent for making tea. The land was named after a temple which no longer exists, but the park now homes the Izumi Shrine, where members of the Hosokawa family are enshrined. Within the garden is a representation of Mt. Fuji – a pointed hill that is meant to look like the famous mountain. It’s also said that the garden represents the fifty-three sensations of the Tokaido Road. Seasonal plays are performed on the theatre stage, which was built at the same time as the family shrine.
At the entrance we bought some ikinari dango – a traditional Kumamoto sweet made from sweet potato and red bean paste, covered in a layer of salty mochi skin. I’ve been told that the name means ‘Suddenly… mochi’ as well as ‘easy-make dumplings’. Basically, the idea is that these steamed buns are quick and easy to prepare. They didn’t sound like my kind of thing, but I actually quite liked it – the saltiness of the dough against the sweetness of the potato. Yeah, pretty yummy.
The pond was the crowning glory of the park, with a plethora of birds above the water and leisurely-drifting carp. A rock shaped like a turtle glistened in the clear waters, shaded by mesmerizing trees with leaves growing like bubbles at the ends of branches, looking like something straight out of Avatar. The cherry blossom season is getting under way, and the trees were thick with it. A light breeze shook the glossy petals from the trees, which drifted like confetti into the tranquil waters. At the far end of the garden, a caretaker stood knee-deep in the water, sweeping the bottom of the pond with a besom (the reason for which, we presumed, was to stir up any gunk at the bottom of the pond and to make it easier for the portly coy-carp to nibble up nutrients.) A tunnel of blood-red tori’s led to a place of worship, where a toddler fresh on her feet was delighting in running up and down the aisle of dappled light.
A very picturesque scene indeed – but honestly, we were a little disappointed. The park was tiny – we were expecting to spend the whole afternoon there but you could have walked around the entire thing in less than 15 minutes. It was beautiful, but like I said – a little disappointing. However, at 400 yen entrance it wasn’t a waste of money. Nor was it a waste of time – with the lovely weather, we sat by the pond and had some reading time, with me very much enchanted at the idyllic setting to start reading my latest Kindle download (Etta and Otto and Russell and James – Emma Hooper).
In the evening we went back to a favourite sushi restaurant of ours for a delicious meal – 4 pieces of sushi each (2x scallops, salmon, horse mackerel), a sashimi don (a bowl of rice with various sashimi on top), fried shrimps, whole fried smelt fish, baby clam soup for me and fish soup for Sasha. At 2,000 Yen each (£12) it was another bargain meal. A great way to end a great weekend! Sayonara さようなら
Lovely photos Cei
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