A Garden Inspired by Chinese Art 中国美術から着想を得た庭園

One interesting feature just beside the veranda of the central part of the house is the suikinkutsu dating from the 1780s. When a ladleful of water from the stone basin is emptied onto the black stones at its base, the water filters through the stones and produces a musical tinkle as it drips down. This is because an earthenware pot with a hole in its base is buried upside-down beneath the stones. The sides of the pot form an echo chamber, which amplifies the sound of the drops landing on the pool of water below.

It is called a suikinkutsu, or “water koto cave,” because the sounds it produces supposedly resemble the notes of the koto, a stringed musical instrument often called the Japanese harp. Like a wind chime, the sound is supposed to be cooling and refreshing.

A Teahouse Within a Teahouse

In one corner of the garden sits the Kagetsuro Teahouse. Originally built in the precincts of Suo Kokubunji Temple in 1786, it was dismantled and rebuilt here in 1888. Kagetsu refers to an eighteenth-century style of tea ceremony conducted by five people in an eight-mat tatami room. The Kagetsuro Teahouse has a range of different room sizes, allowing it to accommodate up to thirty people and a variety of tea ceremony styles.