In a castle town of the former Tsuwano Domain, this garden was created in the residential area for the townspeople which prospered from the end of the Edo Period to the mid-Meiji Era. There is a small front garden inside the front gate, which faces the street, and a main garden in the east of the main house. This garden demonstrates the development of the landscaping culture in the modern Tsuwano and it has a trace of a merchant’s house from the early modern period.

cultural property : registered monuments　
type : registered monuments

ha38 Ushiroda, Tsuwano-chō, Kanoashi-gun, Shimane-ken 699-5605
Tel：0856-72-2867

Zaima Garden is one of about 20 residential gardens for the townspeople which remains until today in a castle town of the former Tsuwano Domain. This is a typical traditional tradesman’s mansion in Tsuwano, which was built in 1899. It is believed that the foundation of the garden was created along with the store, where they sold alcoholic beverages, and the current main residence.
There are a front garden and the main garden. The front garden has a lantern and a pine tree inside the front gate. The stone arrangements with large stones around the pine tree create a conceptual space of emptiness. The path through the garden gate will take visitors to the small garden in front of the warehouse. The main garden is in the east of the back parlor, which is in the main building along with the room for the Buddhist altar. Two small basin-shaped ponds, garden stones, a lantern, a Tsukubai (a washing basin), etc. are arranged near the eaves and stepping stones are placed around them. More stepping stones are placed in the area from the shoe-removing stone of the back parlor to the back of the garden. They continue to go around two Tsukiyama (artificial hills), which are connected with a stone bridge. The view of the garden from the back parlor consists of a Kasuga lantern and several standing stones on top of the Tsukiyama in the innermost place, and they are connected to the scenery of Mt. Aono behind the garden in the distance.

In a castle town of the former Tsuwano Domain, this garden was created in the residential area for the townspeople which prospered from the end of the Edo Period to the mid-Meiji Era. This is a stroll garden with a pond which uses water from the irrigation channel along the street. It has common characteristics of other pond gardens in the castle town of Tsuwano. This garden demonstrates the development of the landscaping culture in the modern Tsuwano and it has a trace of a merchant’s house from the early modern period.

cultural property : registered monuments　
type : registered monuments

ro70 Ushiroda, Tsuwano-chō, Kanoashi-gun, Shimane-ken 699-5605
Tel：0856-72-1661

Tanaka Garden is one of about 20 residential gardens for the townspeople which remains until today in a castle town of the former Tsuwano Domain. It is believed that the garden was created when Miura Goroemon, who was a silk manufacturer, constructed the main house in 1886. The Tanaka Family, who created a fortune with silk textile manufacture, purchased the house in 1927 and the existing garden was created.
The garden is in the southwest of the store and the main house. It is a stroll garden around a pond so visitors can enjoy it not only by viewing it from the parlor but also by walking around the pond. There is a front gate to the garden between the store/main house on the street and a traditional storehouse with mud walls. After the front gate, there is a narrow front garden with stepping stones. The main house and the storehouse are connected with a connecting corridor and there is a small gate in the corridor. After going through the small gate, there is a lush pond garden with the mountain, where there are ruins of the Tsuwano Castle, in its background. There is a Tsukiyama (artificial hill) in the south shore of the pond. Standing stones on top and trees create an appearance of a secluded mountain. The stepping stones in the front garden are connected to the stepping stones from the shoe-removing stone in front of the main house. They will continue to go through an Inari shrine in the back of the garden and to the top of the artificial hill, and then around the pond. There are lanterns and garden stones here and there to make the scenery more enjoyable.

In a castle town of the former Tsuwano Domain, this garden was created in the residential area for the townspeople which prospered from the end of the Edo Period to the mid-Meiji Era. As for the design and structures of the garden, there are some common characteristics with the small courtyards of the early modern times to recent modern times. This garden demonstrates the development of the landscaping culture in the modern Tsuwano and it has a trace of a merchant’s house from the early modern period.

cultural property : registered monuments
type : registered monuments

ro190 Ushiroda, Tsuwano-chō, Kanoashi-gun, Shimane-ken 699-5605
Tel：0856-72-0021

Fundo-ya (Tsubaki-ya) manufactured and sold Japanese candles, hair oil, rapeseed oil, camellia oil, etc. in the current location beginning in 1596, during the Keicho Era. (They shifted their business to petroleum energy in 1947.) According to “the drawing of the townscape of the Tsuwano Domain” which was created by the order of the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1703, Fundo-ya Hanbei already existed in the same location on the drawing. He was considered to be one of “the top eight fellows” of the Tsuwano Domain and, in recognition, he was given a brass flower bowl (Usubata) with a family crest of the trade name from the lord and it still remains until today.
The building was constructed shortly after the great fire of the castle town of Tsuwano in 1853. It was difficult to procure lumber because it was right after the fire, so they used recycled lumber and sills that were salvaged from the fire.
It appears to be crude, but a typical merchant’s house and Machiya-style from the Edo Period still remain intact even today and it is designated as a registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan.
The courtyard (Tsubaki Garden) is designated as a Registered Monument. Although it is unknown exactly when during the Edo Period it was created, marks of the great fire of 1853 (the sixth year of the Kaei Era) such as burnt marks and cracks were found in the shoe-removing stone in the stone arrangements. The courtyard was very common in the Machiya-style architecture during the Edo Period because lighting was not enough and ventilation was necessary. Haircap moss (Polytrichum) covers the entire area between stepping stones. This garden is simple yet refined.