Trip to Japan, Day 12

( Photo captions: (1) A view of the Tamozawa Imperial Villa. Source: http://www.park-tochigi.com/tamozawa/ ). (2) The facade of the Kosugi Hoan Museum of Art. Source: http://www.khmoan.jp/index-e.html )

{Note: This is a narration of my recent trip to Japan, from 7/17/07 to 7/30/07}

Day 12. July 28, 2007. Saturday.

Today I visited the Nikko Tamozawa Imperial Villa Memorial Park.

Below are some of its details:

Address: 8-27 Honcho, Nikko City, Tochigi Prefecture 321-1434
Tel. 0288-53-6767, Fax. 0288-53-6777
Website: http://www.park-tochigi.com/tamozawa/

The following paragraphs are taken from the brochure:

"The Nikko Tamozawa Imperial Villa is built around the former Edo residence of the Ksihu Tokugawa clan, which was brought from Edo to Nikko. The Edo residence was presented to the Imperial Household in 1872 and became the Akasaka Rikyu. It was then used variously as a temporary palace for the emperor and as the crown prince's residence until 1898.

The main three-story section of the residence was removed to Nikko and the villa built was built around it. Three parts of the residence were used as the emperor's living and sleeping quarters.

The Nikko Tomozawa Imperial Villa was constructed in 1889 for Prince Yoshihito (later Emperor Taisho) as a retreat, and also used by three emperors and three princes until 1947.

The building is the biggest wooden imperial villa erected in the Meiji and Taisho eras. It consists of three parts that date, respectively, from the Meiji, Taisho and Showa eras, each representing the very best feauture of the Japanese architecture of its time."

On my way back to Nikko Park Lodge (where I was staying) I passed by the Kosugi Hoan Museum of Art. This museum is near the Shinkyo bridge and was established to commemorate the artistic endeavors of Kosugi Hoan, a native son of Nikko City, Japan. Here is an excerpt from the brochure:

"Kosugi Hoan (1881-1964) was a prolific artist who left a highly individualistic mark on Japan's modern art history. He was active during the Meiji, Taisho and Show periods as a painter in the Western and Nihonga (Japanese) styles, as well as a "manga" artist, illustrator, calligrapher, "waka" poet, and author. Hoan's output as a painter can be larglely divided into his Western art period, when he called himself Misei, and his Nihonga period, when he restyled himself as Hoan.

Visitors to the Museum can view Hoan's masterpieces "Izumi" and "Shinkyo", together with his studies, sketches, and other materials that are essential to gaining an understanding of Hoan -- the artist."

See the Museum website ( http://www.khmoan.jp/index-e.html ) for details.