The garden of the former “Shiba” Detached Palace is situated at “Hamamatsucho”, Shiba ward, in the City of Tokyo. It covers an area of 14, 870 “tsubo” (over 12 acres and is under the control of the Tokyo municipal authorities.
The Garden is reputed to have been laid out by a gardener who lived at “Odawara”, Kanagawa prefecture, at the behest of a “Daïmyo” feudal lord) called “Okubo”, sometime in the Era of “Genroku” (688-1703). The garden reverted to the Central Government after the Restoration of “Meiji”, and then came into the p ssession of the Imperial Household Department, which gave the designation of the Shiba Detached Palace in the 9th year of Meïji (1876) and allotted the site for the reception of exalted foreign visitors.
The Garden retain d this capacity untill the 12th year of “Taïsho” (1923), when it encountered the “Kwanto” Earthquake Disaster, and both the garden and the pavilion sustained some degrees of damage. In the following year (1924, the Imperial Household Department granted the Garden to the Tokyo City), but to our regret the former grandeur of the Garden is now rather missing.
The whole Garden is laid out according to the “Circular Promenade” system. It has a large pond with four “Naka-jima”, and moreover several “Tsuki-yama”. Above all, it has a special feature in the “Shio-iri” method, by moang of which the sea-water is drawn into the pond so that the water in the pond may be influenced by the ebb and flow of tide. The Shio-iri adds an exquisite variety to the whole landscape of the Garden. It may be called one of the typical “Yedo” gardens.
In the main parts of the garden, we observe no huge and luxuriant trees. Some pine trees planted along the margins of the pond, though time-honoured, are purposely stunted by lopping off their top boughs, and are made to take a pyramidal form by inducing the lower branches to ramify in all directions.
The garden has few shades, and consequently it gives the sense of brightness and tranquility.
With regard to the garden stones, they consist chiefly of igneous rocks, as is the case with most “Yedo” gardens, and these are mainly andesites. Lavas areplentifully used. In point of the “Iro-ishi”, chlorite-schist and its kindred stones are employed as “Aoishi”, while two basaltic andesites are used as “Aka-ishi”
The characteristics of the Garden is found in the “Tobi-ishi”, which is given a special feature by the use of the “Nebukawa-ishi”.The Garden has no parallel, not only in other places than Tokyo but even in all other Yedo gardens, in its profusion, uniform largeness, and the preservation of natural forms, of these “Nebukawa-stones”.
Thus, the thorough understanding of the characteristics of “Nebukawa” stones and the mastery command of them so as to produce a taste brimming over the whole garden, are only possible to a great artist.
With regard to the size of the Nebukawa stones, we may ascertain it numerically by measuring the surface dimensions of each consecutive series of stepping stones, and by comparing the ratio of their deviation to the average.
It is also considered to be worthy of notice that the established rules of the garden construction in the “Tokugawa” period are found in the disposition of stones around the “Chozu-bachi” in front of the former pavilion in the present Garden.

View full abstract