The Moroto garden

HOME | 初代諸戸清六について | 庭園の紹介 | 公開情報・内覧会情報 | 交通案内・地図 | 諸戸清六ゆかりの地 | English

*Garden infomation* The beginning of Moroto-garden was purchased in Hikozaemon Yamada’s residence in 1884 who was a famous merchant in the Edo-period(1600-1867).　 After then Moroto Seiroku and his son expanded and arranged this garden. The entire is designated a national historic relic, and 5 Important Cultural Properties are located in this garden. Now the Moroto foundation established in 2002, managed since to the day. *Seiroku Moroto (1847-1907)* Seiroku Moroto was born in 1847 as heir to a landowner. Due to the failure of his father’s business, the family was forced to move to a new place, carrying a huge debt with them. After settling down in Kuwana, they started a rice wholesale business. When Seiroku was 20 years old, he was able to clean his family’s debt and made a fortune in a relatively short time. In 1884 he bought the house and the garden from the Yamada family. He lived simply and strictly prohibited a luxurious life, but he never spared expenses if it was necessary. For instance, he offered money to lay water pipes to the town since Kuwana suffered poor water quality.


++ Facilities ++ 1.OMO-YA（main house)、2.OMOTE-MON（main gate)、3.TAMATSUKI-BA （cue-ball Saloon)、 4.YOUKAN（western style building)、5.GENKAN (entrance)、6.SUIKOU-TEI(hermitage)、 7.RENGA-KURA(brick storehouse)、8.FUJI-CHAYA(tea room)、9.Iris Pond、10.SHINSHI(shrine)、11.HIROMA(banquets hall)
1. OMO-YA (main house) Important Cultural Properties [1889, Wooden, Hipped roof, pan and roll tailing, partly pantile and copper roofing] OMO-YA was built as Moroto Seiroku, who was the first master of Moroto, residence and office. The two-story residence has a thick vertical lattice the front of the first floor, a huge ridge of roof tile and Onigawara (one kind of roof tile), and a black plaster dozo structure, which shows the passion of Seiroku. Bordered by the Thori- niwa (passage garden) extending from east to west, the south side is a business space made of thick zelkova wood. The north side is a living space, Shoin-zukuri(traditional style of Japanese residential architecture) architecture, made of thin cypress. Since Seiroku usually sat on a small bench outside of the entrance with a thin cushion and frugal cotton wear, nobody identifed Seiroku. A timetable of the Tokai Line was kept in the room so that he could go out at any time.

2. OMOTE-MON(main gate) Important Cultural Properties [1904,Wooden, the gate has double doors and both sides have a mud wall, pan and roll tailing] The gate is in the "Yakuimon" style, with two tiers of braces on top of thick square pillars to support the door frame, and an antechamber pillar stands at the position of the door frame on the west side. The double-opening board door is supported by a shaft sliding door made from a foundation stone and a straw seat attached to the side of the lintel. The remarkable point of this gate is the center of the gate is slightly forward. Roof is slightly curved. Before the repair, the east side had a narrow round tile roof with no pattern like the main building, and the west side had a thick tile roof with "Tomoe" and Arabesque patterns, but it was found that the roof was originally a narrow tile roof with no pattern like the east side and the main building, and it was restored to that style.

3. TAMATSUKI-BA(cue-ball Saloon) Important Cultural Properties [The end of Taisho-period, Wooden, artificial slate roof] The wood parts were repainted in light and dark yellow in the early Showa era. The original color was restored during this repair. The remarkable point of this building is there are short post under the floor to support the billiard table and dampen vibrations. As far as can be confirmed, the only billiard-only buildings remaining that is standing independently from the other buildings are the Iwasaki residence's cue ballroom (1894) and this building.

4.YOUKAN(western style building) Important Cultural Properties [ca.1897,Wooden, pantile roof] The wooden parts were repainted in light and dark yellow in the early Showa period. The original color was repainted in this repair. A fireplace chimney protrudes from the roof with the bricks showing as they are. This chimney is stacked halfway up to avoid the pine beams. The flue was a Tokoname ware clay pipe with a special structure that twisted 90 degrees in the middle and 180 degrees in the opposite direction. The original ground was reinforced by masonry under the pillars and pebbles on the other pillars to reinforce the soft ground. The Western-style bathroom was added as part of the original plan, so it is a separate structure from the foundation of the main Western-style building. Although the exterior and interior are Western-style, the roof structure is a Japanese-style, with "Gassho-zukuri" (a type of wooden frame) similar to a Western-style structure attached only in the corner line direction. The use of log columns instead of the formal square columns shows the transition period of Western-style architecture.

5. GENKAN(entrance hall) Important Cultural Properties [1891, Wooden, pantile tile and copper roof] This building serves as the entrance to the palace. It is composed of several buildings, including the KURUMAYOSE, which stands at the front. There were many alterations to the original plan, and traces of modification can be seen in various parts of the building. The two corridors separating the reception and service areas, wooden mosaic flooring , chandeliers, and other elements were designed to host the VIPs of that time. Various political and business figures were hosted and served in this historical residence, including Shigenobu Okuma, Aritomo Yamagata(Both of them Prime Minister of Japan in Meiji and Taisho era), Takashi Masuda(Founder of the Mitsui Zaibatsu), Souan Takahashi, and Kota Nozaki(both of businessmen, Japanese tea ceremony master in Meiji-Taisho era), to name just a few.

6. SUIKOU-TEI(hermitage) Mie Prefecture Tangible Cultural Properties This is a three-mat hermitage built in the garden, and it is the remains from the time of Yamada Hikozaemon's residence. The “Yamada Rinsen” in “Kuhana Meisho Zue” (Illustrations of famous places in Kuwana) depicts Suikou-tei with facing the pond named “Kakitubatano-ike”(Iris Pond ). Its location appears unchanged since that time, and it is constructed on stonework on the sloping terrain. Except "de-doko"(overhanging alcove) at the south end of the west side, the four sides are entirely composed of shoji screens. The entrance is at the west end of the south side, and there are very low walls under the shoji screens on the west and north sides. The hermitage is full of wild beauty with its skinned pillars and curved Enzuka (short posts).

7. RENGA-KURA(brick storehouse) Mie Prefecture Tangible Cultural Properties [1887, brick, partly two-storied building, gable roof with base tiles] The original storehouse consisted of five consecutive wooden storehouses built around 1887 when the main building was newly built, but it was destroyed by fire in March 1895. After that, it was rebuilt with bricks, but two buildings on the west side were destroyed in the war in 1945, and now only three buildings remain. This storehouse was built as a rice storehouse, and it is said that rice from farmers various regions was brought in by boat from the moat in front of the storehouse. The interior has a wooden floor, the walls are finished with bricks, and the western-style roof truss known as the king post truss is exposed.

8. FUJI-CHAYA(tea room) [1968,Wooden, One-story house, gable roof with base tiles] The building had been in existence since the time of the Yamada Hikozaemon residence, but was destroyed in a fire caused by the WWII disaster in 1945. The present building was reconstructed in 1968 on the foundation of the original building, and resembling the original building. The plan is trapezoidal, open to the west for the Fujidana (wisteria trellis). The east wall has a unique configuration with Tokonoma (alcove where art or flowers are displayed) on the north and the Chigai-dana (shelves built into the wall) on the south. Sukiya techniques and intricate woodwork are evident throughout the hermitage.

9. Iris Pond At the time of Yamada Hikozaemon's residence, this garden was known as 'Yamada-rinsen.' Moroto Seiroku kept it as it was, but in around 1910, his son Moroto Seita remake it to the iris pond with Matuo Souken who was famous tea master. Around the iris pond, there are the SUIKOU-TEI at the west, the FUJI-CHAYA at the east, and the Sothetsuyama (mountain miniature consist of Japanese sago cycad) to the North. In the time of “Yamada-rinsen”, the Sothetsuyama was used to located at the North part of OMOYA(main house). Souta relocated it to its current position when he redesigned the garden. Visitors can enjoy the beauty of the seasons, with azaleas, wisteria, irises, and other flowers in spring, and azalea and maple leaves in autumn.

10. SHINSHI(shrine) Kuwana City Tangible Cultural Properties [1898,Wooden, hip-and-gable roof with base tiles] It has been passed down as a shrine since the Edo period when Yamada Hikozaemon built his residence, and it was documented as "Inari" in "Kuwana Meisho Zue" (Illustrations of famous places in Kuwana). There is a story behind the founding of this shrine. In that time a white fox lived under the shrine. Around the beginning of the Meiji era (1868-1912), when Seiroku Moroto got lost in the mountains, the white fox guided him to a village. Realizing that this was a messenger of the fox deity who served 'Fushimi Inari,' he built a small Inari shrine in his old house. Later, when he moved to his current residence, he enshrined the fox and rebuilt the present shrine in 1898.

11. HIROMA(banquets hall)and The pond Garden Important Cultural Properties [1891, Wooden, pantile tile and copper roof] Hiroma(banquet hall) and the pond garden ware build by Seiroku Morot to entertain special guests during the Meiji period. There are two remarkable points of this banquet hall. One is the floor level was built higher then water's surface of the pond for can be look down spectacular view of the pond garden. Another is that only a few columns were used to ensure an open landscape. The pond garden was said to have been modeled after the Honma residence in Dewa and the Omi-hattkei(tourist sight points of Omi-region).