It is said that the garden started out as a villa built by a lord of Aizu about 600 years ago. This is in a style of Japanese garden with a path around a pond, which is in the middle, shaped like the character for “heart (Kokoro).” It was named “Oyaku-en (a herb garden)” because various medicinal herbs were cultivated here. It was designated as a National Place of Scenic Beauty in 1932.
cultural property : historic sites and places of scenic beauty as natural monuments
type : places of scenic beauty
8-1 Hanaharumachi, Aizuwakamatsu-shi, Fukushima-ken 965-0804
Tel：0242-27-2472
Home page : http://www.tsurugajo.com/oyakuen/
The garden has borrowed scenery with the mountains on the east side of the garden and it is considered to be an exemplary Daimyo garden during the Edo Period with a path around a pond. Originally, it was a villa built by Ashina Morihisa during the Muromachi Period. It is said that he built the villa because there was a spring with miraculous powers. It later became a villa for the lord of Aizu, Matsudaira, and started to be called “Oyaku-en” because various medicinal herbs were planted. It is said that it was built around the mid-Edo Period, but an actual date is unknown.
There is a pond shaped like the Chinese character for “heart (Kokoro)” in the middle of the garden with an island at the center. There is a bridge to the island, and a gazebo called “Rakuju-tei” is on the island.
There is a waterfall on the southeast edge of the pond and a path paved with stones on the south side. There are some stones arranged along the waterside. Large trees such as Japanese firs (Abies firma), Japanese cedars (Cryptomeria japonica) and pines are spread in the south and east part of the garden. There are Japanese red pines (Pinus densiflora) here and there in the north side.
It was used as a sanatorium for the new government forces during the Boshin War, thus it was preserved without being destroyed.