This garden is a good reflection of the gardening techniques of the Oishi Bugaku gardening school that have been handed down in the Tsugaru region, such as creating Tsukiyama (artificial hills), arranging large rocks, a dry waterfall, a dry pond, and a stone bridge across the pond. Sketches drawn when creating the garden, and an inscription describing the modification work are archived at the garden. Visitors can learn about the history of the garden creation and its transitions afterwards.
cultural property : historic sites and places of scenic beauty as natural monuments
type : places of scenic beauty
26-2, Ooaza Miyadate Aza Miyadate Sawa, Hirosaki-shi, Aomori-ken 036-8384
Tel：0172-82-1642
Home page : http://zuirakuen.com/
This is the garden of a wealthy farming family in the Miyadate area, the Tsushima Family. The Tsushima family ran Dai Shoya (a village official) for generations during the era of Tsugaru Domain. It is a Karesansui (dry landscape) garden occupying a wide space in front of the south side of the building.
The garden includes an arrangement of two paths of large stepping stones, a worship stone, and a water basin. Further inside, the garden features a dry waterfall, a dry pond, and a stone bridge across the pond. A low miniature hill sits at the far back on the right (west) side and a taller hill at the left (east) side, along with spontaneously arranged large rocks. A small arbor and stone lantern are placed in between.
Takahashi Teizan started building the garden in 1890 and worked on it for the following 15 years. Later his two apprentices, Ikeda Teigetsu and Tonosaki Teiyo, resumed addition and modification work at the beginning of the Showa Period. It was finally completed in 1936. There is a description of the origin of the garden on the back of a Tateishi (standing rock) in front of an Inari (goddess of rice) shrine at the right back of the garden. Design drawings created during the addition and modification work are archived. This is one of the outstanding gardens displaying the gardening techniques of the Oishi Bugaku gardening school that have been handed down in the Tsugaru region.