This is a garden inside the main residence (built in 1916) of the Mouri Family, a former lord of the Choshu Domain. It is located at the foot of Mt. Tatara, which is in the east of the city center of Hofu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. They made the best use of its natural landscape around the pond and it is a typical stroll garden with stone arrangements, plants, lawn, gazebos and lanterns, which are arranged perfectly.

cultural property : historic sites and places of scenic beauty as natural monuments　
type : places of scenic beauty

1-15-１ Tatara, Hōfu-shi, Yamaguchi-ken 747-0023
Tel：0835-22-0001

This is a garden inside the main residence (built in 1916) of the Mouri Family, a former lord of the Choshu Domain. It is located at the foot of Mt. Tatara, which is in the east of the city center of Hofu City, Yamaguchi Prefecture. Originally there was a reservoir for the rice paddies and a small settlement, but it was selected as a location for the new main house for the Mouri Family around 1892. The garden was completed along with the main house in 1916. The garden’s entrance consists of a path from the front gate to the front entrance of the house along the Nagi River. The front garden has a lantern by the wide carriage porch in front of the mansion of the Mouri Family, a Chinese bayberry (Morella rubra) tree and azalea bushes. It is a stroll garden with a pond which spreads south of the main house’s 2-story study. The gourd-shaped inner pond is about 5,500 m2 and there is a stone bridge where the pond is narrow. They made the best use of its natural landscape and it is considered to be a typical stroll garden with stone arrangements, plants, lawn, gazebos and lanterns, which are arranged perfectly. There is a large lawn for garden parties in the northwest of the garden, which was a typical garden feature created around that era.

It is a garden with a Tsukiyama (artificial hill) and a pond. It is called Ryushin-tei and is located in the north of a Hojo (the chief monk’s residence) and faces towards the study for Sorin-ji, a temple of the Rinzai sect. There are standing stones on top of the hill which faces south, and these stones are the centerpiece of this garden. There is a dry waterfall towards the pond at the bottom of the hill. Eight medium-sized standing stones are arranged in two rows in the pond. Because of that particular design, it is believed that the original garden was created around the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

cultural property : historic sites and places of scenic beauty as natural monuments　
type : places of scenic beauty

210 Kogushi, Ube-shi, Yamaguchi-ken 755-0067
Tel：0836-21-1087

Fukubara Hirotoshi, a lord of Ube, built Sorin-ji in 1670 in order to hold memorial services for the repose of his father, Mototoshi’s soul. This Rinzai sect temple was established in the place where then dilapidated Fusai-ji was. It is believed that the old pond and garden of Fusai-ji were repaired and upgraded.
It is a garden with a Tsukiyama (artificial hill) and a pond. It is called Ryushin-tei and located in the north of a Hojo (the chief monk’s residence), facing towards the study. There are standing stones on top of the hill which faces south, and these stones are the centerpiece of this garden. There is a dry waterfall at the bottom of the hill and water falls to the pond. Eight standing stones are arranged in two rows in the pond in a Yodomari-style.
This type of landscaping can also be seen in Chion-in and Nanzen-ji in Kyoto which are believed to have been built in the 14th century (the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties). The same style from the Shoin garden for the temples from that time period can be found everywhere in this garden, thus it is believed that the original garden goes back to the period of the Northern and Southern Dynasties. This is the oldest garden in the Yamaguchi Prefecture.