徳明園TOKUMEIENJapanese garden

The garden was created by Tokuzo Yamada and Japanese architecture expert Seikichi Kaneko, and is maintained by Sekisui Goto II, who has also worked on the Meiji Shrine Inner Garden.
Made with Sanbaseki stone from Gunma Prefecture and lava that was transported from Mount Asama, visitors to this garden will be soothed by the naturally growing red pines, black pines, maples, and other plants of all four seasons.
The garden is made up of four areas: the lake garden(Chisen kaiyu), the zen garden(Kare sansui), the rock garden(Seki tei), and the moss garden(Koke niwa). Visitors can enjoy the changing beauty of the gardens throughout the seasons: the majesty of the rock garden in winter, the azaleas and mountain cherry trees at the start of spring, the bright fresh green leaves and white skunk cabbage flowers, the hydrangeas and green maple leaves in early summer, and the red autumn leaves. The season of autumn leaves in particular attracts a lot of people, and the sight of the illuminated red leaves is definitely worth a visit.

Scattered around the garden are several fun statues created by renowned sculptor Rakuzan. The mossy Urashima Taro statue in the middle of the lake is said to be one of the best works of Rakuzan’s career.
If you walk around the lake, you will see a depiction of Takimi Kannon (Kannon watching a waterfall). The statue of Kannon on the rocks by the flowing waterfall was the first piece created by Rakuzan. The elegance of Kannon’s clothing and the modern, refined overall balance of the statues are often cited as characteristics of the Doukutsu Kannon pieces, but you could easily say that the most prominent aspects of this cute Kannon statue are the big hands and head. When you cross the Sanzu River in front of the Takimi Kannon and go through a small cave, you see Yama and demons drinking sake and laughing. The worldview and playful spirit of the merchant Tokuzo Yamada combine with the rare talent of the sculptor Rakuzan to bring color and life to the garden.