As I think back and recall with longing those days of ages now gone,
already it is evening and today has become the past.
omoidete furinishi yoyo o shinobu ma ni
kyou mo mukashi ni naru yuube ka na
I had been reading In The Shelter of the Pine by the noblewoman Ogimachi Machiko: the Kyoto lady who served the powerful samurai Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu as a concubine at the end of the 17th century.
Yanagisawa was devoted to Japanese poetry, so much so, that when he built his villa in the deep countryside near to Edo (now modern Tokyo), he created a beautiful garden on the theme of the six classical styles of poetry described in that wonderful first imperial anthology, the Kokin Wakashuu.
This garden, the Rikugien, is a still and tranquil part of dazzling Tokyo, and so it was, on a cold January day, that I visited with my wonderful Tokyo family, and walked in the shadows of this fascinating family from long ago.
The Power of Poetry
In the preface to the 10th century collection of poetry called the Kokin Wakashuu, commissioned by Emperor Uda, celebrated Heian poet Ki no Tsurayuki writes:
Japanese poetry has the human heart as seed and myriads of words as leaves. It comes into being when men use the seen and the heard to give voice to feelings aroused by the innumerable events in their lives. The song of the warbler amongst the blossoms, the voice of the frog dwelling in the water - these teach us that every living creature sings. It is song that moves heaven and earth without effort, stirs emotions in the invisible spirits and gods, brings harmony to the relations between men and women, and calms the hearts of fierce warriors.
Tsurayuki describes the beauty of Japanese poetry, with examples of six Japanese poetic styles known collectively as the rikugi. The subtle differences between the six poetic styles inspires the creation of a garden beside the Edo villa of Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu, which is built around 1699-1706.
And it's name: it becomes the Rikugien.
Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu is a passionate poet, having studied the secret teachings of the Kokinshuu. He is a samurai devoted to serving the scholarly shogun Tokugawa Tsuyanoshi (1646-1709).
At the beginning of the 18th century, a memoir was written about Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu by his second concubine, Ogimachi Machiko. It is called Matsukage Nikki in Japanese, translated into English as In the Shelter of the Pine, and it is the most celebrated writing by a woman of the Tokugawa era.
Most striking to me, is the spell that The Tale of Genji casts over the narrative: the dazzling 10th century novel by Murasaki Shikibu is clearly emulated seven centuries later by this Kyoto-born aristocratic lady.
In the introduction, the translator G.G. Rowley writes:
By describing life at the Yanagisawa mansion and the Rikugien as if they were Genji's fictional Rokujou estate, Machiko depicts herself as one of the Shining Genji's own ladies.
In this blog I would like to walk with you through the garden of the Rikugien - as part of the estate still exists in modern Tokyo - while reflecting back to the lives and writing of our 17th century protagonists Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu and Ogimachi Machiko, who once lived and walked there.
Chapter 10, Chinese Robe
When the mother of His Highness Tokugawa Tsunayoshi indicates that she would like to pay a visit to Yanagisawa's villa at Komagome, it is a rare honour, and the household are very busy with the preparations:
[Yanagisawa] had the villa hung with paintings of felicitous pines and bamboos celebrating long life. Before them, he placed beautiful vases in which he had arranged flowers. On the shelves next to the alcove, he placed a set of exquisitely lacquered implements for incense. The box for writing paper and the inkstone and such were extraordinary and had been chosen with great care. He even readied folding screens, armrests, and bedding.
The garden too was exceptional. My Lord had had its broad expanse cleared and then of course filled with the finest trees and shrubs; pure water was diverted into a stream; and the way he had the rocks and such placed made for a distinguished effect. Here and there he had small rustic cottages erected, nine in all. The pillars were of unfurnished logs, the finished timbers were new and fresh, and those that had been roofed with thatch had a distinctive appearance. [pp.66-67]
Chapter 14, Noble Oak
Yoshiyasu views the garden at Rikugien that he has created. This man who has studied the Secret Teachings of the Kokinshuu has devoted his garden to the visualization of those six systems of Japanese poetry described by Ki no Tsurayuki in the Preface:
[Yagisawa's] estate in the countryside at Komagome occupied a broad expanse of land, and the disposition of the hills and streams was delightful. In recent years, he had been building a villa that would be appropriate to his purposes and developing gardens of incomparable appeal. He himself had no time to go there. Instead, he had men in his service go back and forth every day to report on the progress of the building works, sketching pictures for him that he examined morning and evening; he then issued instructions of one sort or another, so that there was never any doubt of his intentions.
As usual, the world was quick to hear about all this, and various rocks and trees of even the slightest unusual beauty were given to him, 'for the garden'. Day after day, burly-looking men hauled a great many carts out there, such that the roads were quite impassable. he had meant to do everything discreetly, but the clamor as men competed to work for him became cacophonous. In autumn this year [1702], all the work was completed.
On the thirteenth of the Eighth Month, My Lord [Yanagisawa] went out to view it. Utterly splendid it was, quite beyond compare. The broad expanse of pond, the distant view of mountains, the placement of rocks, the delicate planting of trees and shrubs - there was nothing so delightful in all the world. He had based it on Tamatsushima and Wakanoura Bay, and the way the waves appeared to lap over the needles of the overhanging branches of pine was as if one actually beheld the shore.
Tamatsu Island: your reflection perfect in the waves of the pond!
Surely this serves to show how much poetry means to me.
tamatsushima utsusu mo kiyoki okenami ya
waka ni yosekeru kokoro misuran
[pp.90-91]
Moon-viewing
The annual mid-autumn full moon poetry party is held:
On the fifteenth, [Yanagisawa] invited the usual people for a poetry party. Everyone composed poems on the topic 'Clear Moonlight on Water'. My Lord's poem:
In the clear moonlight, the sky and the water of the pond are as one;
reflected in the rippling waves: how late the night, how late!
ikemizu mo sora mo hitotsu ni sumu tsuki no
nami no monaka no kage zo yobukaki
[p.92]
Chapter 15, Hills and Streams
Tokugawa Tsunayoshi's daughter Tsuru visits the estate in the countryside at Komagome:
Of such exalted rank was she that My Lord [Yanigasawa] himself took charge of the preparations. She had heard of the waves that lapped the shore of Waka Bay and thus-like everyone else-no doubt wanted to see them for herself...
Everything he had built for her, in this corner of the garden and that, was quite out of this world: the whole place had been polished so that it glittered like a palace. He had added wonderfully exquisite touches that he felt would delight the eye even of one accustomed to the most splendid of surroundings.
The pavilion that faces the garden is called the Rikugikan. He had blinds hung, and in the alcove he displayed a magnificently mounted scroll of a picture that she herself had painted, with an old poem that was also in her own hand:
Breaking off a branch: greater even than the color of flowering plum
is the scent that suffuses deeply the sleeves of my robe.
orite miru iro yori mo nao ume no hana
fukaku zo sode no ka ni nioikeru
[pp.96-97]
Chapter 17, Moon of Old
Rikugien is of course in the heart of the bustling metropolis of Tokyo these days, surrounded by busy roads and tall buildings. But in the next passage, it is clear that in the early 18th century, the Rikugien was located deep in lush countryside:
It was the Tenth Month, a time when for days chill showers had swept across the skies, and everyone wondered, how deeply dyed will be the leaves in the distant mountains?
Sukeyuki wanted so badly to see the estate in the countryside at Komagome that My Lord agreed to send him there, 'Given that he is accustomed to the delights of the capital,' My lord observed, 'I wonder what he will think!' He sent a messenger with this poem:
Was it worth seeing? I fear it was not, for with frost blown in of late,
colorless must be winter now in the mountain village.
miru kai mo araji fukisou kono koro no
shimo ni iro naki fuyu no yamazato
Of course, we too visited modern Rikugien on a cold winter's day. Was it worth seeing? As I sat with my beloved Tokyo family, with fleecy rugs on our laps to keep out the cold, and with beautiful bowls of hot matcha tea in our hands, looking out at the beauty of the tranquil lake, I was bursting with happiness!
We were even inspired by the gardens to create our own poem in tribute, on the spot, as was the old way! Rikugien, oh plum tree, my heart!
Sukeyuki should have replied with a poem, but instead he wrote:
As I walk these truly splendid hills, I wonder how I can possibly view each and every one of the delights and cannot bring myself to pause, even for a moment. Honored though I am to have received such a superior poem as you deigned to send, a reply is beyond me.
And indeed, spending the whole day treading the brocade autumn leaves, one would quite forget to return. [pp.112-113]
Chapter 24, Garden of the Six Styles
The deep passions that Yanagisawa had for both poetry and his beloved Rikugien garden are clearly recognised when retired Emperor Reigen gifts him a set of poems on the Twelve Scenes and Eight Views of the Rikugien:
This is the name of the mountain village so famed for its scenery. My Lord [Yanagisawa] had had attractive pictures painted of the features of the hills and the lay of the lake, and when at some point he presented them to his majesty, he deigned to select the Twelves Scenes and Eight Views he found most attractive.
Then he had people compose poems on these topics and bestowed them upon my lord. They are written on white silk and everything about the scroll is exquisitely beautiful...
And of course he had the calligraphy executed in accordance with ancient practice, so that the whole is quite without flaw...[p.158]
Chapter 29, Path of the Kindling Cutter
Finally, Yagisawa decides that it is time to retire, and he chooses to spend his days at the beautiful garden Rikugien that he has created within his estate at Komagome:
He had been preparing himself for some time, and thus nothing was rushed. All of his personal retainers had everything ready. And so it was that on the eighteenth of the month, he retired to the mountain village at Komagome. His wife moved too. All of the women of his household and his personal retainers are to follow in due course.
On the day he was to move, My Lord composed:
Never again shall I step back into the secular world now that
I have entered upon this path of the kindling cutter.
mata mo yo ni fumi wa kaesaji ima wa to te
tsumagi korubeki michi ni irimi wa.
[p.200]
Chapter 30: Moon and Flowers
The Rikugikan, as it is called, is connected to My Lord's residence, and the sweeping view over the gardens is simply splendid. Hatsushio Hill is the name of the place where a great many maples are planted in front of the Rikugikan.
In the Ninth month, when skies bring showers that seem to come and go through this very place, burnished leaves on the countless treetops - some light, some dark - are spread out like thousand-times-dyed brocade, and drops of falling rain seem to pierce one to the marrow; then, as one gazes out, it fines up again and the rays of the setting sun sparkle in a multitude of colors - the Tatsuta Lady herself could do no better.
It's also delightful when a tree is late to turn and just stands there, still green, as if envying the others. 'How many days before it turns?' you ask...
And in the midst of this, one night it rains softly and the next morning you see that it has colored everso faintly...
My Lord composed this poem:
How far from shallow indeed is your name, O hill of first burnished leaves!
Day after day the dew dyes the leaves a deeper colour.
asakaranu oka no na nare ya hatsushio mo
hikazu ni someshi tsuyu no momijiba
It was his long-held wish to spend the days and months in this quiet fashion, and in doing that, he has come to be regarded as a rare model of dignity.
'The way he used to live was splendid enough,' people said, 'but the way he has gathered all that is elegant and delightful around him and simply celebrates the blossoms and the autumn leaves day and night - that too is splendid,' they came to feel.
...When Lord Ogimachi came down, he waited for a break in his official duties and then came to visit us. My Lord was overjoyed that he was willing to make his way through the thickets of dew-drenched wormwood. For it had been some time since they had seen one another; and though he now lived quietly in this mountain village, having the opportunity to receive him delighted them both.
...[Lord Ogimachi] took a stroll around the garden and was astonished by what he saw, 'even better than he had heard.' Earlier, when His Majesty had graciously decided names for the poetic sites in the garden, My Lord had had them painted and presented them; and though the Grand Counselor, acting as intermediary, had seen them then, now to behold the incredible sight of the hills and streams with his own eyes was overwhelming. 'There are indeed no limits to what the brush can depict!' he exclaimed. [pp.202-203]
The Winter Garden
The garden in winter was quiet and beautiful. It was impossible to walk around on this cold January day and not imagine Yanagisawa and Machiko walking in the grounds long ago.
How they would be surprised at how their mountain retreat had changed and been enveloped in the exciting metropolis of modern Tokyo!
...The views of plants and shrubs are no less moving as winter deepens. Gazing out from Reeds' Edge pavilion, you see that in all directions the reeds are slowly withering, rustling as they wait for storms to strike, while ducks and grebes gather in flocks, looking pleased to have found the place...
The way the trees look at 'new jeweled pine' and Mount Hisamori and elsewhere, branches bared by winter, is so august and venerable. And the pine trees standing so tall and straight, as if they've just woken from a dream of frost, are so moving and profound. The fallen leaves scatter here and there, blown into hills and valleys, and then in gusts of evening wind they're tossed up again, scattering who knows where -it looks just as lonely as it should be in a mountain village.
On very frosty mornings, you look out and wonder, Can they be our palanquin bearers? as beneath the trees here and there they appear, sweeping up the leaves, in no time at all piling them into baskets and taking them away, their faces looking so cold it's pitiful. Icicles stick out, looking just like swords so fearsome they might cut your feet, but with a crunch, crunch, crunch, the gardeners make their way through them in a practiced manner.
And when it snows, it's of course delightful. On hills that stretch off into the distance, you can see snow piled up prettily on the treetops, though of course the pines and cedars contrast nicely with the others. tall, bare trees are nothing to look at, but when the snow has fallen on them, as if to create a special scene, you can't help but think, How beautiful!
And when snow blankets the bottom of the hills so deeply you can't make them out, this, you feel, this is what winter in a mountain village is like.
My Lord murmured:
The garden's white snow, piled layer upon layer as the days go by,
shows that even our visitors have given up on us.
tsumori kite hi o furu mama ni tou hito mo
omoitaetaru niwa no shirayuki
When clouds that have darkened the skies clear away, leaving a night bright with moonlight that seems to play on the billows of white - it's beautiful enough to make you shiver.
The bridge over the stream on the shady side of the hill is called Yanxi, and the reason why it came to be so is very interesting. It's also delightful the way the snow piles up in the boat abandoned among the reeds. As the year draws to a close, there is nothing special we need prepare for now, and it's wonderfully quiet.
At New Year, My Lord's children and everyone else gather here, and although he means to avoid anything ostentatious, with his superb taste in everything, inevitably he has a way of making the festivities just as splendid as they should be. The seedling pines for the day of the Rat and the spring shoots - everything can be picked right here. Even though snow still lingers on the pines, the young people are keen to step down into the garden and search for them. Fresh green glimmers amid the snow, plums along the hedgerows burst into bloom, radiating warmth, and the way the spring breezes waft softly through everything is indescribably lovely. [p.206]
In later years, the Rikugien became open to the public, and it became a popular place for local people to visit and celebrate the fleeting cherry blossoms of spring, and the dazzling colours of the leaves in autumn.
If you visit, give a thought to the samurai and his concubine who loved this beautiful place all those centuries ago.
Cathy
xx
Sources
Ogimachi Machiko, (translated by G.G, Rowley), In the Shelter of the Pine: A Memoir of Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu and Tokugawa Japan, (Columbia University Press, 2021).
(Translated by Helen Craig McCullough), Kokin Wakashu: The First Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry, (Stanford University Press, 1985).
Kasamatsu Shiro, The Middle Gate in Rikugien Garden, (ukiyoe-gallery.com).
Kasamatsu Shiro, Shinsentei Arbour in Rikugien Garden, (ukiyo-e.org).
Genji, Nara Collection, Keio University
Chikanobu (1838 - 1912), Moon Viewing Banquet at Yoshino Imperial Palace, (Fuji Arts).
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