The Sankeien Garden in southern Yokohama is in the Kyoto style of Japanese garden, with teahouses transported from Kyoto itself. The garden was built by Mr. Hara and opened to the public in 1904. It is a sprawling garden with a strong relaxing/calming character. We were guided around the smaller garden and various photo exhibitions by a wonderful guide who spends his Fridays in the garden to inform English speakers. The skies today were very pale as a snowstorm was about to hit later in the afternoon. In just a few weeks time, this garden would have been full of trees in blossom, but for now blossom was a rare but beautiful sight.
At one side of the garden is a viewing platform on what was the owner’s villa. The platform provides a view of Mount Fuji in the distance, nicely positioned behind all the refinery chimneys! In the immediate photo below, Mt. Fuji is between the two tower stacks in the middle of the photo.
One of the houses in the garden had belonged to a wealthy farmer, and displays inside gave an insight into farming life at that time.
