The Study on Zuikakuso Villa Garden of the Fushiminomiyas a Former House of a Prince of Blood

Abstract

Zuikakuso villa garden was made on the seashore of Cyoshi Inubosaki in Chiba prefecture in 1905. The villa was owned by the Fushiminomiyas which was a former house of a prince of blood. This study searched the main feature of the garden and its changes for putting it in the appropriate position of garden history.
Through the research the following results were concluded.
1) The main landscape of Zuikakuso villa garden was the scenery of the ocean watched from the villa through pine trees in the main portion of the garden. Therefore it had the style of Shakkei (borrowed scenery) which was a favorite garden design in Meiji era.
2) The garden was designed to put much importance on nature (including natural scenery) in and around the site, which is a typical style of gardening in that era.
3) Rocks and stones used in the garden were collected near around the site and most of them were from the seashore. That means this garden was a local garden arranged with native materials.
4) There are so few historical gardens in Chiba prefecture that this garden ought to be added to the garden list of Chiba.
Overall conclusion Zuikakuso villa garden is worth listing among the gardens of Meiji era and of Chiba prefecture.