Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu was a samurai who lived during the rule of the fifth Tokugawa shogun, Tsunayoshi. He was one of the favorite shogun’s advisers, and for his services he received a piece of land in Edo, in the today’s Bunkyo ward. On this land he built a garden which remained until today one of the most important gardens in Tokyo, Rikugi-en.

Everything we see in this picture, the pond, the islands, and the hills were built on what was originally just flat land, after a work that took about 7 years.

Rikugi-en, Bunkyo, Tokyo

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Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Street scene in Higashiyama, Kyoto