Calling in Our Corals

Sankei-en (三溪園, Three Creeks Garden) is a traditional Japanese-style garden in Naka Ward, Yokohama, Japan, which opened in 1906. Sankei-en was designed and built by the silk trader Tomitaro Hara (原富太郎), known by the pseudonym Sankei Hara.

The buildings at Sankei-en were collected by Hara from across Japan, before being dismantled and reassembled at the gardens. This building, the Kakushōkaku, was Hara's original family home.

This used to be the private home of the Yanohara, a wealthy family in the Edo period. The house contains the original hearth, bathroom and kitchen, and the second floor houses an exhibition of Japanese folk artefacts.

Originally the summer residence of Tokugawa Yorinobu, the Rinshunkaku is considered almost as beautiful as the Katsura Imperial Villa. Divided in three sections, it was decorated by famous artists Kanō Tanyū and Kanō Yasunobu.

The Sankei Memorial Museum is dedicated to Tomitaro Hara's life and to his his tireless work on the garden of Sankei. Through exhibits of letters, scrolls, paintings, and ceramics a story of the lives lived in these buildings is told.

This letter of thanks was written by the military commander Toyotomi Hdetsugu. It came into Hara's collection when it was found in artefacts found from the Rishunkaku.

This gold and silver-decorated fan is believed to have been used by the courtier Yodo-dono. It is painted with a picture of a magnolia tree and a short waka poem.

The former hon-dō (main hall) of the Tōmyō-ji Temple, this building is an excellent example of Muromachi period (1336-1557) architecture. Originally sited in Kyoto, it was bought in 1988 and completely restored over five years.

This pagoda was constructed in Kyoto in 1457 and originally sited at the Tōmyō-ji Temple. It was one of the earliest buildings at Sankei-en, being brought to the garden in 1914.