Having arrived in Aizuwakamatsu early afternoon by the time we made it to Oyakuen Garden (御薬園), a 15-minute walk from Tsuruga Castle, it was already approaching the magic hour and we virtually had the whole place to ourselves.
Completed in the Muromachi period (1430s) by a feudal lord, the strikingly beautiful garden is centred on a pond featuring a tea house, royal villa and a medicinal herb garden.
Meguro Jotei, a landscape gardener during the Edo period, designed the current layout of the garden to show nature in miniature, which is typical of traditional Japanese gardens.
Ochayagoten (御茶屋御殿)
![Ochayagoten](https://randomwire.com/wp-content/uploads/flickr_backup/18894805038_b5565dd8aa_b.jpg)
The Ochayagoten was built in the Izumidono style (a pond-facing pavilion) and each room has at least four-and-a-half tatami mats. It was used when lords, superior officials, merchants or general managers of the Ashina clan were invited to Aizu.
![Reflected Glory](https://randomwire.com/wp-content/uploads/flickr_backup/18896327379_13ee4e7fee_b.jpg)
![Sublimity](https://randomwire.com/wp-content/uploads/flickr_backup/18894806568_0c264179f4_b.jpg)
Today it contains a sublime teahouse where you can sit and enjoy a cup of matcha.
Rakujutei (楽寿亭)
![Rakujutei Teahouse](https://randomwire.com/wp-content/uploads/flickr_backup/18894813108_fa25911459_b.jpg)
The Rakujutei is a tea ceremony cottage built on Naka shima or “Middle Island”. It has an alcove with a rail and thatched roof. Feudal lords and the executives of the clan would enjoy tea ceremonies here.
![Bridge to Rakujutei](https://randomwire.com/wp-content/uploads/flickr_backup/18461805823_2527e5d850_b.jpg)
The garden pond is named Shinji no Ike and is shaped like the kanji character for “heart” (心).
Chōyōkaku (重陽閣)
![Medicinal Herb Garden](https://randomwire.com/wp-content/uploads/flickr_backup/18896331619_f6096121a5_b.jpg)
In 1670, Matsudaira Masatsune, the second feudal lord of the Aizu fief, began cultivating various herbs in the garden.
![Wisteria in Bloom](https://randomwire.com/wp-content/uploads/flickr_backup/19076855052_814534a166_b.jpg)
Private citizens were encouraged to grow herbs as well, and today there are about 400 kinds of medicinal herbs and trees which are cultivated for traditional remedies.
![Wisteria](https://randomwire.com/wp-content/uploads/flickr_backup/19056267646_07cf8da785_b.jpg)
During May the garden is awash with purple wisteria draped over purpose-built wooden frames.
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