Kōko-en

好古園Himeji, Hyogo

Garden

What makes this place special?

At a Glance

Kōko-en is a Japanese garden beside Himeji Castle in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, laid out on the site of the lord's west residence. It opened in 1992 to mark the hundredth anniversary of Himeji's city status and covers about 3.5 hectares. Its full name is Himeji Castle West Residence Site Garden Kōko-en, and Kōko comes from the domain school Kōkodō, once near the entrance.

It consists of nine separate gardens divided by earthen walls that follow the original plot lines of the residences. The largest is a pond garden with about 250 koi, said to evoke the Seto Inland Sea. Others include a tea garden with a tea house by Sen Genshitsu of the Urasenke school, a bamboo garden of fifteen varieties, and a stream garden that borrows the castle keeps as scenery. Gate houses and covered corridors in Edo-period style have been recreated, so the garden often appears in period dramas.