Monograph No. 2
STUDY on the IMPERIAL VILLA of SHUGAKU-IN 修学院離宮
‐ English Summary ‐
Osamu Mori, Dr. Tech.
Chief of the Architecture Room
N. I. C. M.
1954
TENRI
CONTENTS
Chapter Page
List of Plates ⅰ
List of Figures in Text v
I. History of the Shugaku-in Villa vii
III. Restoration of the Original Plan xvii
The present study constitutes a part of a research work, of which I am in charge, on Imperial Palaces and Villas in Kyoto and its vicinity. During 1952-1953 we were engaged in studying the Imperial Villa of Shugaku-in in the NE suburbs of Kyoto, and in this paper, I have treated its history, present condition and the restoration of its original plan, for the purpose of better understanding of its real value.
It is a very significant phenomenon that in the 17th century at the time when the gorgeous shrine of Toshoo-gu （東照宮） was constructed at Nikko （日光） by the Tokugawa Shogunate, such simple country villas as the Imperial Villas of Katsura （桂） and Shugaku-in （修学院） were built in Kyoto, by the members of the Imperial Household, who were then under the oppressive power of the Shogunate. However, today the Toshogu Shrine attracts only curious tourists and sight-seers who resort to it only to say “Wonderful!”, while these country villas are recognized as the highest masterpieces of Japanese architecture of the “sukiya” （数奇屋） style and of the garden planning, with winding paths, and now even gain world-wide approvals of the most advanced groups of architects and connoisseurs.
But if we compare these two examples, no one can deny that the Katsura Villa seems to claim a greater aesthetic evaluation than the Shugaku-in, and as far as the present state is concerned, we must admit that this evaluation is right. However, historical study tells us that, though the Katsura Villa is preserved in good condition and still maintains its original views and plans as it was founded 300 years ago, on the contrary, the Shugaku-in Villa has undergone many drastic changes on its architectures and gardens, since the day of its foundation and scarcely preserves its original condition. Indeed, most of its buildings are reconstructed in 1824. Therefore, if we are to appreciate the artistic character of the Shugaku-in Villa, the restoration of its original plan is indispensable, and this is the reason why we have undertaken the present study.
In the first place, we have tried to trace the history of the foundation of the Shugaku-in Villa and its later changes by referring to the hitherto unpublished old documents and maps, stored in such places as: the Books and Mausoleums Division of the Imperial Household （宮内庁書陵部）, Imperial Library of Higashi-yama （東山御文庫）, Yomei Library of the Family of Konoe （近衛家陽明文庫）, Imperial Nunneries of Enshoji Temple （円照寺門跡） and Rinkyu-ji Temple （林丘寺門跡）, etc.
Next we minutely researched in site the present condition of the gardens and structures of the Villa.
Thirdly, by comparing what we could get from the referring to the old materials and what we learnt from the field work, (mainly obtained by the survey of the ruined sites of basements and cornerstones) we tried to restore the original plan and views of the Villa. The study also enabled us to deduce the natural topography of the area prior to the construction of the Villa, as well as the civil engineering works applied to it. Accordingly, in the present work, I intend to describe these problems in three chapters: Chap. I ‐ History of the foundation of the Villa of Shugaku-in and its later changes; Chap. II ‐ Present conditions of its houses and gardens; Chap. III ‐ Restoration of the original plan and views of the Villa. In the following pages, I wish to summarize my findings.
Chap. I ‐ History of the Shugaku-in Villa
Emperor Gominoo （後水尾）, the founder of the Imperial Villa of Shugaku-in, succeeded the Throne after Emperior Goyozei （後陽成） in 1612, when the Tokugawa Shogunate was still in its formative period, with the 2nd Shogun Hidetada （秀忠）, as its chief. The members of the Imperial Household and the courtiers in Kyoto were not willing to recognize the authority of the Shogunate and plotted several times to undermine it. Emperor Gominoo was the leading figure in the movement. His Empress, however, was the daughter, named Kazuko （和子）, of Shogun Hidetada. Consequently there were incessant political turmoils, till at last the Emperor determined to resign from the Throne and to enjoy a life of retirement in the beautiful countryside.
Being a top connoisseur in the tea ceremony of the time and a famed lover of art and poetry, the Emperor had often held poetical parties with noted noblemen, which included even Prince Toshihito （智仁親王）, the founder of the Katsura palace. Later, the plan of his retirement was of course welcomed by the Shogunate and they willingly gave assistance to the erecting work of the country villa, which was to match and satisfy his majesty's high aesithetic standards. Since such was the cause of the foundation of the Shugaku-in Villa, it could be by no means inferior in its taste and planning to the Villa of Katsura, as it appears now to be.
It was about July, 1641, that he first sent his men privately to inspect the wide area around the Rokuon-ji Temple （鹿苑寺）, now called Kinkaku（金閣）, at the foot of the Kitayama （北山） range, in the northwestern suburbs of Kyoto, to decide upon the grounds for his new villa. Its plan was also considered to have been ready by that time. But he failed to find proper site in this region, and so turned eastward, to the upper valley of the River Takano （高野川） and there he erected palaces and pavilions such as the palaces of Nagatani （長谷）, Iwakura （岩倉） and Hataeda （幡枝）.
These palaces were built widely separated from each other and in between them lay the vast rice-fields and woods which were left untouched for the cultivation by the local farmers. He resorted to these palaces and pavilions in every season of the year- for cherry-blossoms in spring, for the sight of rice-planting in the warm rainy season of early Summer, for the sight of the Moon or the red-tinged maple leaves and for the gathering of mushrooms in Autumn.
Among these places, Nagatani palace was the largest. It was erected near the Imperial Villa of Prince Shogo-in （聖護院宮御山荘）, and consisted of 3 pavilions: the Upper, the Middle and the Lower, or the North. (P1. XXXIX) They were exclusively provided as the Imperial resorts of their majesties, and each of these pavilions was located separately, 300m-600m apart. Another two palaces, the Iwakura Palace (P1. XIX, XLI), which was located on the Manne-oka Hill （万年岡）, near the Jisso-in Temple （実相院）, and the Hataeda Detached Palace, in the site of present Entsu-ji Temple （円通寺）, were also erected in the far to the South of the Nagatani Palace, which was sometimes called also the Upper Pavilion, or Kami-no-ochaya （上御茶屋）. These three palaces seem to have been the preliminary structures for the later erection of the Shugaku-in Villa, and at the same time, they seem to have been an experimental installation to test the fitness of these hillside region as a site for the country villas.
The present site of the Villa which is located further eastward from the above region, at the southern foot of Mt. Hiei （比叡）, was determined perhaps on the occasion of the visit of their majesties to the pavilion of the Imperial Nunnery of Ensho-ji, on their way to the Nagatani Palace, on March 13, 1655, and we learn from a document that the pavilion Rin-un-tei （隣雲亭） was already extant in a corner of the temple grounds, which was later involved in the Shugaku-in Villa.
Then the buildings of the Imperial nunnery of Ensho-ji temple were removed to the village of Obitoke （帯解） of Yamato Province （大和国） modern Nara Pref., and the construction work of the new villa was begun, in accordance with plans drawn by the Emperor himself, with Hiramatsu Kashin （平松可心）, as the field overseer. The work was begun by 1656, the 2nd year of Meireki （明暦二年）, and was almost finished by 1659, the 2nd year of Manji （万治二年）.
This was about 30 years after the construction of the Katsura Palace, which was erected in 1624. Here we must notice that the founders of these palaces were close relatives. Prince Toshihito, the founder of the Katsura Palace, was 17 years older than Emperor Gominoo, and his son, Prince Toshitada （智忠） became the adopted son of the Emperor, 2 years after the erection of the Katsura Palace. Moreover, the 9th prince of the Emperor became Prince Toshitada’s heir in 1654, and the Emperor often paid personal visits to the Katsura Palace. Therefore, his plan of the Shugaku-in Villa must have been made with full knowledge of the Katsura Palace. But the general aspects of these palaces differed so much that it can be said that each of these palaces has it's own character, according to the tastes of the respective founders, who were both among the greatest connoisseurs of the time.
The most significant feature of the Shugaku-in Villa, which makes it different from that of the Katsura lies in the topographical difference of the grounds of each villa, i. e., the Katsura Palace is located on the plain river side ground of the River Katsura, whereas the Shugaku-in Villa is situated on a mountainous hillside at the foot of Mt. Hiei and has a far broader view over the low land that stretches beneath to the city of Kyoto itself. Secondly, the Katsura palace occupies a vast ground en bloc, in which many structures and gardens, as well as small hills and ponds are included, whereas the Shugaku-in, though it also covers a vast region, has three centers, the Upper, the Middle and the Lower Villas as they are called, just as did the Nagatani Palace. Thus, the structures and gardens of the Shugaku-in Villa are confind to within these 3 areas, and these three are connected with each other by paths of 200m-250m long, across the rice-field which continued to be utilized by the tentant farmers. (Fig. 5) Thus the Emperor could enjoy the broad view as he was often carried in a palanquin along these roads over the beautiful countryside, where people worked and enjoyed their peaceful rural lives. According to Chinese custom, to view and enjoy such a sight is suitable for the Imperial personage. Stillmore, that the wide regions outside the pavillion areas were turned to tenancy must be said to be a very cunning method which would enable him to enjoy a reasonable and economical life de luxe. Such a method was almost unknown among his predicessors, and that must be ascribed to the active and realistic character of the Emperor himself.
Now, we can trace in detail the original aspects of the Villa as it was in the days of the foundation in such materials as an old map of 1682, in the Books & Mausoleums Division, or Kakumei-ki （隔蓂記）, by Horin Shosho （鳳林承章）, Chief Monk of the Rokuon-ji Temple, and other poems and journals by those who attended personally the poetical parties held here under the auspices of the Emperor.
Of the three centers, noted above, the Lower Villa, Shimo-no-ochaya （下御茶屋） as it is called, is situated at the foot of the hill-side, and therefore it constitutes the entrance part of the whole Villa. In this part, there were such pavilions as Jugetsu-kan （寿月観）, Zoroku-an （蔵六庵） and Wankyoku-kaku （彎曲閣） but the latter two structures do not exist to-day, and the tablet of the Zoroku-an is now erroneously hung in the Third Room of the Jugetsu-kan. Also, in the garden, there was a small aqueduct leading from the northern hill-side to pour water into the pond in the lower ground. (P1. XLII, XLIII, XIV, Fig. 12)
The Upper Villa, Kami-no-ochaya （上御茶屋）, is situated on the highest part of the mountain-side, and constitutes the main part of the whole Shugaku-in Villa, with a broad view over the low lands.
There, a dam was erected to collect the waters of many mountain streams which come down from Mt. Hiei, together with that of the River Otowa （音羽川）, which was led through a ditch from its upper valley, whereby to make a large pond, which is called Yokuryu-chi （浴竜池）, “Bathing Dragon Pond”. On the NW shore, there was a pavilion named Shishi-sai （止々斎）, and on the small islet, named Naka-no-shima （中島）, in the NE part of the pond, was located also a pavilion, Kyusui-tei （窮邃亭）, which is now erroneously called Kyusui-ken （窮邃軒）. On the South side of the pond, there closely .comes the steep slope of a hill, which is covered with trimmed bushes, and on the top of the hill, is situated a pavilion, named Rin-un-tei （隣雲亭）, “Pavilion Neighboring Cloud”, and a part of this structure overlooks the water-fall is called Senshi-dai （洗詩台）, ”Terrace to Wash Poems”. (P1. XXXVIII) These pavilions are connected by paths, which go along the shore of the pond, and where they cross the water, several wooden bridges, sometime covered with soil, are erected.
The Middle Villa, or Naka-no-ochaya （中御茶屋）, was installed about 10 years later, in 1670, on the old site of Ensho-ji Nunnery. Here was erected a palace named Ake-no-miya （朱宮 or 緋宮）, or Otowa Gosho （音羽御所）, for Princess Mitsuko （光子内親王）, 7th daughter of Emperor Gominoo. It consisted originally of only a pavilion named Rakushi-ken （楽只軒）, with a kitchen and similar structures in the backyard, and it was the typical example of the living house of the so-called Dojo （堂上）, the Imperial prince or princess. Later, several houses were added gradually to it. (P1. XLVIII, Fig. 1) However, a few years later, Empress Tofukumon-in （東福門院） and Emperor Gominoo died in succession (April, 1678 延宝六年, and Aug., 1680 延宝八年, respectively, when he was 88 years old), and Princess Mitsuko became a nun with the name of Gan-yo （元瑤）, in order to pray for the favour of her Imperial parents' lives in the after-world, when she was 45 years old, and in about 1682, the Oku-no-gotaimenjo （奥御対面所）, or so-called Okesho-no-ma （御化粧間）, being the Reception Hall to received the ex-Emperor exclusively, in the ex-Empress’s palace, was granted to her and was removed here, and we call it now Kyaku-den （客殿）, or Reception Hall. (P1. L, LI)
Meanwhile, the Imperial nun, Gan-yo, made her palace an Imperial nunnery, and named it Rinkyu-ji （林丘寺） Temple. At the same time, the Room of the Ladies-in-waiting （女嬬詰所）, as well as the Store House （御物置） were granted and they were made respectively into Shikidai-no-ma, （式台間）, the entrance hall, and Kuri （庫裏）, the kitchen, and the Osho-in （大書院）, Reception Room, was newly established, when the Imperial Nunnery of Rinkyu-ji was finished. It was 1682, （天和二年） and we may call this date as the year of the completion of the Middle Villa or Naka-no-ochaya （中御茶屋） (P1. XLIX), as well as that of the whole Shugaku-in Villa.
Now, let us describe the rough sketch of the changes which occurred in the Villa in the process of 250 years from this time until the early years of Meiji （明治）, 1880’s. (Fig. 4, 7)
First, in the Lower Villa, about in 1824, Jugetsu-kan, which was once lost, was restored on its old site with the original plan, but with a slightly reduced size, and Zoroku-an and okiyo-dokoro （御清所）, the kitchen, were also restored in the background. But all the attached structures were demolished at this time. (Fig. 3, P1. XLVI, XLVII)
Concerning the garden, a great quantity of sand which was carried by the streams and ditches into the pond, at last formed a bank and an islet around and amid the pond, and accordingly a small streams which runs through the garden area were changed. Also the entrance gate, named Miyuki-mon （御幸門）, was removed from the SE corner to the middle of the western fence, and together with it, the Middle Gate, Chumon （中門）, was moved to the spot directly in front of the porch. From the Middle Gate a path was newly made on the bank of the pond that leads to the front garden of the Jugetsu-kan. These changes mean the changing of the view of the garden to a great extent, and it seems that for that reason they also changed entire arrangement of the rocks on the pond-sides and the small artificial waterfalls, and even the position of the stone-lanterns in nearby areas. (P1. LII, Fig. 8)
As for the Upper Villa, a great changed was also took place, when the Shishi-sai which was originally on the northern side of the Yokuryu-chi Pond was removed to the Palace of the Retired Emperor, so-called Sento-gosho （仙洞御所） in 1708, and in 1720-30’s a small pavilion, soto-koshikake （外腰掛）, was made near the ”Great Water-fall”, Otaki （大滝） but it was again demolished later; another small pavilion was erected on the southern part of the Bansho-u （万松塢）. (P1. XLV, XLVI, XLVII.) It was also demolished later but was again restored on the northern part. By the great reconstruction work of 1824, the pavilion Rin-un-tei, which was lost for some time, was restored on the old site, but only the front part. (Fig. 11) At the same time, the shore of the islets of Bansho-u and Naka-no-shima was connected with the bridge named Chitose-bashi （千歳橋）.
Regarding the Middle Villa, just before it was returned to the Imperial Household in the 19th year of Meiji, 1886, the structures and grounds belonging to the Rinkyu-ji Nunnery were separated from the palace grounds with bamboo fences, and the Rakushi-ken and the Reception Hall were remained to the palace ground, after filling up the pond which existed there. (Fig.7) On the contrary, the Studio, Oshoin （大書院）, with some other structures, were removed to the inside of the grounds of the nunnery, and the vacant space was later covered with lawn, in the center of which a big pine tree with spreading branches like an umbrella, was planted. The pine tree is now called Kasamatsu, （傘松）, “Umbrella pine-tree”.
The grounds of the Shugaku-in Palace was originally situated in the NE suburbs of Kyoto, but it is now contained in the city area, at Shugaku-in-machi of Sakyo-ku （京都市左京区修学院町）, though the area still preserves its old rural aspect, as it was 200 years ago. It stands near the Kirara-zaka （雲母坂） slope, which leads to Mt. Hiei. If we visit the palace, first we arrive at the Lower Villa, Shimo-no-ochaya and enter the front gate, and then turn to the left and reach the so-called “Gate of Imperial Visits,” Miyuki-mon （御幸門）. The present gate is of later construction. Its roof is covered thickly with small rectangular pieces of thin wood, which roofing technique we call kokera-buki （杮葺）, and its doors are ornamented with open-work in the pattern of lozenge-shaped flowers, called hana-bishi （花菱）.
Inside of the Miyuki Gate, there is the Middle Gate, or Chumon （中門）, through which one finds on the left band stone steps, and at the top of these steps, there is an elegantly planned porch of the Jugetsu-kan. We call it koshi-yose （輿寄）, which means a palanquin entrance. (P1. I, II)
On the right hand, we perceive the west facade of Jugetsu-kan, under which the ground is paved with stones, alongside the pond. (P1. Ill)
We go through the Middle Gate to the bank, viewing the islet in the pond. The sandbank runs across the pond, and on it a path leads yonder to a sloping way on the other shore, and it reaches to the front garden of the Jugetsu-kan. By the pond, there are many maple trees and several stone lanterns of rare types, such as the sleeve-shaped (sode-gata, 袖形) and turret-shaped (yagura-gata, 櫓形). (P1. IV, V) This garden, surrounded by a small stream, has an area of about 400 sq. m. wide, and is covered with white sand. Crossing it, there are steping-stones, or tobi-ishi （飛石）, of rather unusual hight, which lead to a small stream, and crossing it, go further on.
Present structure of the Jugetsu-kan is a reconstruction of the original, erected in 1824. (It was originally built in the Iwakura Palace.) Though it may differ from the original in many points, we can perceive many interesting designs of a very original type, which is widely called the Gominoo-style. For example, in one corner of the Premier Room, there is a space of about 2m×3m wide, where the floor of tatami-mats is slightly elevated, by 10-cm. It is called jodan （上段）, elevated floor, and was originally planned for the seat of the Emperor.
Along the wall side of it, there is a large tokonoma, 3-m in length, and along the other side, there are another tokonoma and also the so-called biwa-doko （琵琶床）, each being 1-m long. The smaller tokonoma has a chigaidana （違棚） and jibukuro （地袋）. (P1. VI-VII) Biwa-doko was originally planned to have a large kind of lute or some other instruments put in it, and chigaidana is to display some objects d’arts such as incense burners or precious pots, while jibukuro is a small closet to store stationery supplies or books, etc. Such an interior structure is unusually complicated and ornate, and it is a very rare setting for Japanese archtecture.
On the outside wall of the smaller room next to it, the Third Room, there hung a tablet inscribed with the name of Zoroku-an （蔵六庵）, but the original Zoroku-an was demolished long ago, as we have said above. The small level ground which lies to the north side of Jugetsu-kan and below the east back-gate is the old site where the original Zoroku-an was situated.
As for the Middle Villa, the only remarkable structures are the Reception Hall or Kyaku-den （客殿） and the pavilion of Rakushi-ken （楽只軒）. (P1. XI) The Reception Hall was, as was said, originally the special reception room for the ex-Emperor exclusively in the ex-Empress’s quarters of Kyoto Place, and its interior decorations are very beautiful and colorful. (P1. XV.)
Among them, these of the Premier Room are most significant. The wall of the tokonoma is decorated with cloud-shaped gold-leaves. All the lower part of the walls and thick sliding-doors are decorateded with rows of lozenges of the colors of gold and blue, while the upper parts are decorated with square tablets of fancy-papers, fixed in the check pattern, with pictures or calligraphies. Especially, the structure of the tana, i, e, the side-tokonoma, is most famous for its 5-leveled shelves, called Kasumi-dana （霞棚）, or “haze-shelves” (P1. XVI), which are fixed on the upper part of the tana, and below them, on the floor, there is a low closet called jibukuro, on which a triangular-shaped closet is installed. This highly complex construction of closets and shelves is praised as one of the “Best 3 Shelves on Earth”, the other 2 being those of the Katsura Palace and the Sanbo-in Hall of the Daigo-ji Temple （醍醐寺三宝院）. The Secondary Room is also fabulously decorated with landscape pictures on both the thick and paper sliding doors (fusuma 襖 and shoji 障子) around the room, together with the pictures of carps or of festival carts which are painted on the wooden door that leads to the terrace, are all attributed to the works of Kano Hidenobu （狩野秀信）. (P1. XVIII, XIV)
To the north side of the Premier Room, there is a room of the family Buddhist shrine. (P1. XXIV) The panel over the niche which contains the shrine has a decoration of an open-work of the pattern of splashing water, which is a rare example. Pictures of the landcapes of 4 seasons painted on fan papers, decorating the lower closet, or jibukuro, and genre pictures which are fixed on the walls are also interesting. (P1. XIX-XXIII)
The neiboring pavilion in NW of the Reception Flail was formerly the living quarters of the Rinkyu-ji Nunnery. The wall of tokonoma of the Premier Room is decorated with the picture of cherry blossoms of Mt. Yoshino, whereas on the west side wall of the Secondary Room is depicted the maple trees of the riverside of the River Tatsuta, and both of them are attributed to the work by Kano Tanshin （狩野探信）, but they are all in very bad condition. (P1. XIV) On the wall between these rooms, a tablet with the name of the pavilion, framed with bamboo, is hung. (P1. XIII)
As for the garden in front of the Reception Hall, there is a small waterfall pouring down from a rock, and around which there are some rocks and bushes here and there, and in front of Rakushi-ken, we find a small pond, which constitutes the center of the scenery. (P1. XII) The ground where formerly was located by the Grand Studio, Oshoin （大書院） is now covered with lawn and the Umbrella Pine-tree is planted, as we have seen above.
The general plan of the Upper Villa is utterly different from those of both the Lower and Middle Villas. In the latter two, gardens are planned with buildings as their focus. But, here in the Upper Villa, the whole area is designed as a single garden with a unified plan, with the fullest considerations to its natural topography. Hence the big pond of Yokuryu-chi is the central figure of the whole garden, around which particular houses and other kind of structures are scattered along the winding paths and streams. However, there seems to be one more princile which rules the Upper Villa and that is how to get the best panoramic view of the low lands which spread toward the South, as well as toward the West, as far as Kyoto city in the South, and the Hills of Matsugasaki and even to Arashiyama in the West. That a High Commissioner to Kyoto, of the Shogunate, dedicated a telescope to the throne, at the Imperial visit of 1662, is enough to tell the character of the garden, which was remarked by Herr B. Taut to resemble the gardening of the English style. Anyhow, the broadness as well as brightness of the Shugaku-in garden might be said to be in striking contrast to the perfect seclusion of the Katsura Palace.
Now, the center of the grounds is occupied by the pond, Yokuryu-chi, on which there are two islets, and on one of these islets, Naka-no-shima, there is erected a pavilion Kyusui-tei which is apparently constructed to get a broad view of the scenery while sitting inside it. There is also an elevated part of the floor, jodan, beside the window, which is intended as an Imperial seat for sight seeing, as we have seen.
The islet has three bridges: one, named Do-bashi （土橋） (P1. XXXI, XXXII.), a wooden bridge covered with soil, which connects the islet to the NW shore of the mainland where once a pavilion named Shishi-sai （止々斎） stood. It was moved to the Impernal Palace of the Retired Emperor, Kyoto, in 1708, as the latter was destroyed by fire (Fig. 2); the second bridge is called Kaede-bashi （楓橋）, “Maple Bridge”, which connects the islet to the East shore; the third bridge, Chitose-bashi （千歳橋）, connects it with another islet of Bansho-u （万松塢）, which means “Islet thickly grown with pine-trees”. This bridge is a stone-bridge of later erection, of rather Chinese style, and it seems not suitable to the surrounding scenery. (P1. XXVII, Fig. 8)
The garden path begins from the Miyuki-mon Gate and goes round clock wise through the garden, and if we go along the path, it leads us through every view of the garden and back again to the starting point. (To go counterclockwise is a reverse and wrong course for sight-viewing.) On the bank of the NW shore, there lies a large square-sized stone tub, which marks the old site of the lost Shishi-sai. (XXX) The path leads further southward, around the pond, where we find a large water fall and the remains of a small pavilion, soto-koshikake. (P1. XXXV) Then the path goes slopes upward and leads to a height of 149-m. On the top of the height, there stands the pavilion Rinun-tei （隣雲亭）. (P1. XXXVI, XXXVII) The original structure was destroyed by fire, together with the Senshi-dai terrace, in the 1670’s, and it was reconstructed in 1824. (Fig. 11, 15) The pavilion is situated in the highest part of the whole Villa, and the broad view we get from there is really a unique one. Around the pavilion, stone lanterns are placed at such points as where there is a water falls, and where a path crosses a stream or intersects with another path, with the intention of decorating the garden in day time, as well as lighting the way at night.
The outer side of the West Bank of the pond constitutes a big slope covered with thickly grown bushes and trees. (P1. XXVIII) But if we examine the slope more closely, we find that the slope is a big artificial dam, and the top part of it is covered with soil, on which trimmed bushes grow, and below it lies a series of stone walls and these stone walls are hidden by rows of trees planted in line. (P1. XXV, XXVI) These trees vary in their kinds; some bear blossoms in Spring, and some tinge their leaves in Autumn. The fresh green in early Summer is especially a famous spectacle.
Chap. III ‐ Restration of the Original Plan
Regarding the pavilions of the Lower Villa, we learn their original condition in general from an old map of 1682, 2nd year of Tenwa （天和）, and the later changes can be traced by the plans of the respective works. (P1. XLII, XLIII, XLIV) By referring to these materials we made a field investigation to determine the changes in the gardens.
On the map of 1682, we find a sign, which marks the stone wall between the okiyo-dokoro （御清所）, a kitchen, and the carriage house, and in actuality we discovered its remains in the exact spot. By this map, also we could find that the kitchen once stood side by side with Zoroku-an Pavilion on the same level, while on the ground of lower level, stood a house of Sugiyama Takumi （杉山内匠）, a caretaker. Besides we could also restore the original condition of the paths, the shape of the pond or the direction of streams, by examining, in situ, the slightest topographical ups and downs, or the nature of stones, etc.
Concerning the Upper Villa, we learn that such houses as Kyusui-tei or Rin-un-tei are located in their old sites, though these have been reconstructed, and also their original interior plans are known by old maps. (P1. XLIII, Fig. 10, 11, 14, 15) For instance, we could trace the old site of the Shishi-sai Pavilion exactly on the map, and really found there a large square stone tub which must have been attached to it. (P1. XLII, Fig. 9, 16) At the same time, we found a very interesting fact, that the pavilion was skillfully built on a narrow strip of loaf-shaped land, between the pond and the cliff, equipped with a small landing place on the right side, and a boathouse and a farm-house-shaped, kuzuya-gata （崩家形）, stone lantern on the left side, and thus the pavilion occupied the most favorable spot to view the scenery of the pond, with the islet of Bansho-u in fore ground, and the Rin-un-tei Pavilion on the yonder hill top. (P1. XXVIII, XXIX)
Also, by surveying the remaining cornerstones of the lost small pavilion with benches, soto-koshikake, as it is called, we could make out that the hut originally stood fronting on the path, covering an area of 2.17m x4.07m, with 4 corner pillars and one more in the center of the back-side. (P1. XXXV, Fig. 17) Wooden shelves were fixed in the lower part of the pillars of the back-side and both right and left sides to serve as fixed benches. The roof must have been constructed in gable style.
The most problematic points of this garden are the enlargement of the northern part of the Bansho-u Islet, as well as the natural topography prior to the construction of the palace. (Fig. 18) As we have said above, the pond, Yokuryu-chi, was not created by digging, but is a real reservoir with a dam, which was constructed of the soil taken from the foot of a hill, and a spur of the hill was kept undemolished and remain in the pond to form an islet, upon which the Kyusui-tei was erected.
The islet of Bansho-u is a top part of a large rock which emerges from the surface of the pond and it looks like a dragon bathing in the pond, if it is viewed from above, from the porch of the Rin-un-tei Pavilion. Hence comes the name of the pond Yokuryu-chi, a pond in which a dragon is bathing. But now trees and bushes grow on the surface of the rock, and consequently it has lost the dragon like appearance. The references in the old materials and a field research enabled us to find its nomenclature.
The dam, which contains the water of the pond, is often called Nishi-hama, the West Shore. But if we make a sectional examination of it we learn that it is not a natural slope as it appears, but is a real embankment of an artificial reservoir, with a gigantic stone wall, the top of which being covered with soil, and the height of which measures 4.65-m, with a width of about 40-m. (Fig. 19) For the purpose of hiding these stone walls, rows of trees are planted along the stone walls in 4 levels. (P1. XXV,) The top of it is covered with trimmed hedge of evergreen latifoliates, and it is called Okarikomi, “a large trimmed hedge”. It is one of the famous sights of the garden. (P1. XXVI) Perhaps it is by these ingenious inventions that the grandiose aspect of the Shugaku-in Palaces is enhanced to a great extent.
A study of the restoration of the original plan of the Middle Villa is far easier than that of the Upper Villa. For, the map of original plan made under the direction of Rinkyu-ji Temple is perfectly presered in the Imperial Library of Higashi-yama, to which I had the privilege of access. (Fig. 2) Moreover, a map stored in the Rinkyu-ji Temple, made under the direction of the same temple, indicates all the structures which were removed to the Imperial Palace in the early period of Meiji, and by comparing these maps, we can easily get the complete plan or the structures now extant in the Villa. (Fig. 4) Also it becomes clear, by this comparison, that there has been no remarkable change as far as the garden is concerned since the 1680's, except the part of the lawn ground with the “Umbrella Pine-tree” in the center. If we are to observe the early condition of the Villa around 1679, when the palace Ake-no-miya was first erected there, we come to know, by these maps, that the present southern verandah of the Rakushi-ken was about 1-m wide, whereas now it is about 1.5-m wide, (P1. XLVIII) and that two unfloored rooms now adjacent to the Primary and Secondary rooms of the same pavilion constituted originally a kitchen and a servant quarters.
As for the garden, now we perceive a rather high-spanned bridge made of a single thick stone-slab in the south side of the Rakushi-ken, but it was originally constructed for the purpose of connecting the pavilion with the front garden of the Reception Hall, which was erected later on the leveled space of the hill-side, to the East of the pavilion. Also the rocks scattered around the pouring point where a stream flows into the pond, and a small islet behind the stone bridge are all discovered to be of a later construction. Therefore we come to know that the pond was originally dug close to the hill-side and so it presented simpler aspects in former days. (Fig. 13)
In Chap. I of this book, I described the history of the foundation and the later development of the Shugaku-in Villa, which can be roughly divided in to 3 phases:
Phase I: Period of searching for grounds for the erection of an Imperial Villa and its trial erections. (1641-1655, 寛永十八年－明暦元年)
Phase II: Period of the first erection. (1655-1659, 明暦元年－万治二年)
Phase III: Development of Ake-nomiya Palace to Rinkyu-ji Temple, which marks the completion of Villa. (1670-1682, 寛文十年－天和二年)
In Chap. II, I described the present condition of the 3 villas-the Lower, the Middle and the Upper-tracing the paths through the whole area. (Fig.5)
In Chap. III, I made observations concerning the restoration of the Villa, by means of the field researches as well as referrences to the historical materials, and by comparing what is stated in those materials and what was learned by the field researches, we have succeeded almost in restoring the original plan and the former aspect of the Villa.
The reason why we have made these studies is that we believe, since it has undergone considerable changes from the days of its foundation, and almost all the structures extant were newly erected or drastically changed by the reconstruction work in 1824, that the restoration of the original plan is indispensable, both for the artistic appreciation of the Villa, and at the same time, for the future repairing work which is thought to be necessary for the preservation of that Villa as one of the most excellent cultural materials in the sphere of Japanese architecture and gardening.
昭和二十九年八月二十日発行
奈良国立文化財研究所学報 第二冊
修学院離宮の復原的研究
