Today we went to Meiji Jingū Gyoen for the second time. Meiji Jingū Gyoen (明治神宮御苑) is the garden inside of Meiji Jingū, a shrine made for Emperor Meiji and Empress Shoken in 1920. I have talked about Meiji Jingū here, when we went there for Hatsumōde, or the Japanese New Year's tradition of first visit to a shrine. This was our second visit to the garden as we went on January 10th, 2011, but I wanted to wait for this visit, as this time is the highlight of the garden. The garden is famous for its irises and June is the month they bloom, so we made sure to remember to come back to the garden at this time and were not disappointed. I will be combining the information from both of our visits here.
Meiji Jingū Gyoen is the only part of the Naien (内苑), or inner part of Meiji Jingū Shrine that existed long before the founding of Meiji Jingū Shrine. Meiji Jingū Gyoen used to be a yashiki (屋敷), or a daimyō's mansion. [1] It was first owned by Kiyomasa Katō and would later come under the ownership of the Ii clan. Kiyomasa Katō (清正 加藤) was a famous general from 1562-1611. He was first a retainer of Hideyoshi Toyotomi, but later in life would join with Iyeasu Tokugawa. This would prove fortunate when the latter's victory in the Battle of Sekigahara had Kiyomasa on the winning side and was given Kumamoto for his assistance. Kiyomasa was a cousin of Hideyoshi Toyotomi's and would explain his retainership to Hideyoshi. [2] He first distinguished himself in battle at Shizugatake in 1583 and became known as one of the 'Seven Spears.' [3] Shizugatake is a mountain near Lake Yogo, which is directly north of Lake Biwa, Japan's largest freshwater lake located in Shiga Prefecture. This was an important battle as it decided who would be the successor to Oda Nobunaga and continue the process of unifying Japan. Hideyoshi Toyotomi's victory over Katsuie Shibata here meant Hideyoshi Toyotomi would have power over much of Japan at the time. [4]
Kiyomasa would continue to prove himself as the retainer of Hideyoshi Toyotomi during the ongoing battles of Hideyoshi to assert his power over the whole of Japan. In 1587, he participated in the invasion of Kyūshū, even defeating the famous Shimazu general Niiro Tadamoto in hand to hand combat during the battle of Sendaigawa. When Kyūshū was secured, Kiyomasa would receive a large amount of land in Higo Province (present-day Kumamoto) as a reward. [5] Kiyomasa, a Nichiren Buddhist, persecuted Christians in his domain much to the anger of Konishi Yukinaga, a Christian owning lands next to Kiyomasa. [6] This conflict between the two would prove important later. For the meantime, both would command armies during Hideyoshi's invasion of Korea in 1592. Both were sent to capture Seoul first, but afterwards Kiyomasa was to lead his forces north along the eastern side of Korea. [7] Kiyomasa's aggressiveness and ferocity during the campaign earned him the nickname Kishokan (鬼将官), 'Demon General' by the Koreans. [8] This included the kidnapping of two princes to force the lower opposing officers to surrender, as well as racing up the eastern side even into China when many other officers were bogged down. For a general whose nickname referred to his general hardcoreness, of course Kiyomasa's free time during the Korean campaign was spent hunting tigers. [9]
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| Tsukioka Yoshitoshi's Masakiyo Captures the Wild Tiger. [10] This ukiyo-e is of Kiyomasa on a tiger hunt in Korea. The name given in the title is different for a specific reason that I'll get to later on. Yoshitoshi Tsukioka is the last of the great ukiyo-e artists, the art form kind of died with him in 1892. |
The first Korean campaign ended in a truce, which angered Kiyomasa to being called back from his forward position to show good faith to the Chinese and Korean forces of their intention to stop fighting. Kiyomasa drew back, but still found time to defeat an enemy force at Chinju with Konishi which had failed to be taken by the Japanese for a year previous, before the truce was signed. [11]
Kiyomasa would again be called upon by Hideyoshi Toyotomi in the 2nd invasion of Korea in 1597. This time, his fame as a fighter grew in the famous siege of Ulsan. The siege of Ulsan was an incredible victory for Kiyomasa Katō and the Japanese forces there, not only because of the large enemy force, the largest to attack a Wajō (the castles the Japanese invaders built in Korea), but also for the terrible conditions they had to face during battle. Kiyomasa had left 7,000 in Ulsan to construct a castle, but it still was not finished when Ming Chinese forces attacked on January 29th, 1598. [12] The Chinese forces knowing this used fire arrows to burn the temporary barracks and attacked the unfinished castle before being repelled. Kiyomasa was notified of the attack and he sent for reinforcements and quickly sailed to Ulsan to return and lead the defense there, which was quickly surrounded by rings of enemy troops uncountable. [13] Without completed gates, the Chinese forces were able to fire arrows directly outside the walls, leading to more destruction by fire. After this, the defenders shut themselves within the inner castle, but conditions were already disastrous. [14]
The inner castle had no well and thus, no water and only 3 days of food. The only fortunate thing was Chinese artillery couldn't penetrate the gates or walls of the inner fortress, but this meant continuous assault by enemy troops for the next 10 days. [15] Conditions had reached the point where gathering parties slipped out by night to gather water from corpse filled ponds and grains of rice from dead Chinese soldiers. Other food was, "...roasted strips of meat cut from dead horses cooked over fires made from broken arrows, piles of which lay several feet deep." [16] A heavy rain storm provided temporary relief to their thirst, but this was followed by freezing weather that night, which stopped fighting on both sides.
In the Chosen Ki a diary of the Japanese commander Okochi Hidemoto about the battle, "...50 men at a time may be found crumpled under the unbearable hunger, thirst and cold. In addition there are a number of men who have let their heads drop and lie down to sleep. Other soldiers go on tours of inspection with their spears, and when they try to rouse men who have not moved all day by using the butt end of a spear, the ones who stay completely bent over have been frozen to death." [17]
At this point, the Chinese forces were also tired of fighting and offered a cease fire to Kiyomasa Katō who accepted to buy more time for the relieving force to arrive. This would happen as Yoshinari Mōri's forces came and signaled to Kiyomasa with their banners of their arrival. [18] At this point, Kiyomasa broke off the cease fire and the Chinese realizing another army had arrived tried one last attack that night. When this failed, their camps had been abandoned by that morning and the forces of Kiyomasa had achieved a great victory.
Even though Japan had won at Ulsan, the battle marked the beginning of the end for the 2nd Korean campaign. The 2nd campaign ended with the death of Hideyoshi Toyotomi , who died September 18th, 1598. After Hideyoshi's death, a battle for succession would arise between Hideyoshi's son, Hideyori and Ieyasu Tokugawa. This conflict would develop as the Western Army of Hideyori's side and the Eastern Army of Ieyasu's side (Ieyasu Tokugawa was based in Edo, east of Osaka where Hideyori was, hence the naming of the armies). While it would seem obvious that Kiyomasa would join the side of the Toyotomi, he actually joined the side of the Tokugawa. The reasons for this were the leader of the Western Army was Ishida Mitsunari, who Kiyomasa had fought with during the Korean campaign and the Western Army also had Konishi Yukinaga, his hated rival. [19] The two sides finally met at Sekigahara leading to Ieyasu's victory and completing the unification of Japan. Being on the winning side, Kiyomasa was given the rest of Higo (present-day Kumamoto), his hated rival finally eliminated on the wrong side at Sekigahara.
Kiyomasa would become famous for his castle designs and construction, as well as his water projects. [20] His castle at Kumamoto being a lasting reminder of this. Kiyomasa put many of the lessons that he learned from the terrible experience at Ulsan to good use in Kumamoto Castle. This included nut trees within the baileys and for the matting to be stuffed with dried vegetable stalks instead of the usual rice straw for extra food. Kumamoto Castle even survived the siege by Takamori Saigō with modern equipment during the year of 1877, some 270 years after Kumamoto's construction. [21] Kiyomasa would also be enlisted by Ieyasu Tokugawa to construct Nagoya Castle. [22]
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| Kumamoto Castle. [23] The main keep is a reconstruction; it burned down during the siege in 1877, but many of the other buildings are still original. |
While it might seem like Kiyomasa was a traitor to his retainer, the Toyotomi, this might not be the case and his clan's demise might prove it. Kiyomasa might have joined the the Tokugawa side to bring a peace between the two sides sooner to keep Hideyori safe. [24] His continued friendship with Hideyori Toyotomi might have brought his death as Iyeasu might have arranged for his death in 1611 to remove another obstacle to finishing off the Toyotomi once and for all. [25] Something Ieyasu would finally achieve in 1615.
Which brings me back to the strange title for the ukiyo-e print. A kabuki play covering the story of one of the rumors of Kiyomasa's downfall that he was forced to drink poison, but did so to keep Hideyori safe appeared in 1807. This was still during the time of the Tokugawa government so the play needed to change the names of the historic figures or otherwise be censored. This would lead to Kiyomasa Katō's name to be changed to Masakiyo Sato. [26] His first name being just a flipping of the kanji. 清正 Kiyomasa to 正清 Masakiyo. The ukiyo-e print's title would then be the name for the kabuki character, even though it is really a print of Kiyomasa. In fact, you can even see this if you look closely at the print's title in the upper right hand corner. It was a bit tricky figuring out the correct artist and title of the print, and then also figuring out who Masakiyo Sato was and why it wasn't Kiyomasa Katō.
While there's no proof that Kiyomasa was poisoned, his son's banishment by Iemitsu Tokugawa (Ieyasu's grandson) gives some evidence that the Tokugawas wanted them removed. [27] With that, the Hosokawa Clan was given Kiyomata's province of Higo and the Ii Clan took over the mansion at Meiji Jingū Gyoen. However, after 1868 with the Meiji Restoration and the stepping down of the daimyō, this land was given over to the Imperial Household Ministry and would be in private use by the Emperor. Emperor Meiji made many of the features of the current garden for his wife, Empress Shoken for her enjoyment and health. [28]
Meiji Jingū Gyoen can be found by going along the main entrance path to the shrine, and it's just on your left after passing through Otorii, the huge wooden torii that is the largest in Meiji Jingū Shrine and the largest of its type in Japan. Right at the entrance is a little hut that sells souvenirs and is the place to pay to enter the garden. It's 500 yen to enter and you can see the whole garden except for Kiyomasa's Well. To see that you need to ask and then wait for the time when groups are led back to the well. After paying and not wanting to see the well, you're free to enter the garden, walk around and explore it at your convenience. The garden has a wide variety of different plants, making for each season to have something unique and worth seeing throughout the year.
Following the well-kept foot path flanked by bamboo and other plants, the first sight you come across is the tea house Kakuun-tei. This tea house was ordered to be built by the Meiji Emperor for his wife in 1900. The present building is a 1958 reconstruction, as it was burnt down during the war. [29]
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| Kakuun-tei in January. It was also a national holiday which might explain why the tea house was open. |
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| Kakuun-tei in June. |
The tea house overlooks the Nan-Chi (South Pond), which has the fishing spot Emperor Meiji made for Emperess Shoken and is remarkable fed by Kiyomasa's well.
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| Looking down from near the tea house unto the Nan-Chi. These bushes here are azalea which are covered in red flowers during their peak in April. [30] |
Directly down the hill from here is the fishing spot. Otsuri-Dai (Fishing Spot) was often a place where the Empress Shoken enjoyed her time. [31]
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| Koi swimming lazily about the fishing spot. |
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| Like just about everywhere with koi in Japan, there are a lot of them at the fishing spot and they come up to the surface looking for handouts when people approach. |
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| The South Pond also has water lilies during the summer that are pretty. |
Continuing along the path is the huge iris garden on multiple tiers that holds water from Kiyomasa's Well up above. Beyond the iris garden is blocked off, holding the Well of Kiyomasa. If you join the group tour, you are taken directly here first and allowed to see it.
The Well of Kiyomasa is famous for being a "power spot." Power spots are usually natural wonders or shinto shrines that can supposedly give the people who visit them energy or spiritual power. [32] The term was first created by the self-proclaimed psychic and metal bender Kiyota Masuaki in the 1990's to be a place where the earth's energy can be collected. [33] However, power spots didn't become the fad that they have been recently until Shuhei Shimada, a famous palm-reading TV personality claimed taking a cellphone picture of Kiyomasa's Well got him a job in December of 2009. This caused so many people to go, that the garden had to implement the new ticket system which is used today to control the amount of visitors going to the well. [34] Power spots became a fad in 2010 through a mix of media promotion and Japanese religion. Many of these power spots already had religious connotations, as well as mythical and supernatural abilities defined a long time ago by the shrines and spiritual nature of these Shinto holy sites. Much of the Japanese religious practices already follow traditional practices to gain worldly benefits as well. The power spots have become an extension of this, in people wanting to go to them for the hope of gaining good luck, changing a mood or building motivation. [35] Even though power spots are losing their popular status and media coverage, many of these power spots already were impressive sites filled with history, culture, lore, natural beauty and / or deep spiritual connotations and won't fade along with the popularity. [36] The Well of Kiyomasa is a power spot because it has never emptied since its discovery and creation and is the source for the whole of the South Pond.
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| The Well of Kiyomasa. It's not a cellphone picture, but if there's any truth in power spots, maybe it will increase the power of this blog. |
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| On a more serious note, the water's clarity was incredible. You might be able to see the spout of the well in the upper left of the well wall. |
The first time we came to see the well, as we learned about power spots and the well from a friend and did the full tour then. We came back this time, because while at the garden the first time we saw the pictures of the iris garden in bloom at the entrance hut and wanted to see it. The garden has 1500 irises from 150 different types making for an incredible sight when they bloom in June. [37] The difference between our 2 visits of the iris garden is really incredible.
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| Here it is in January. |
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| And here is almost the same exact spot in June. |
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| I felt the sheer variety of the irises was more impressive than how many there were. When you look at them closely, there's a wide variety of very different shapes and colors in the irises here. |
If you happen to be visiting Meiji Jingū Shrine, especially during June, make the time to visit Meiji Jingū Gyoen along the way.
References:
1. Plaque, Meiji Jingu Gyoen, January 10th, 2011.
2. Chris Glenn, "Hideyoshi and Kiyomasa Memorial Museum," JapanTourist.jp,
http://www.japantourist.jp/view/hideyoshi-and-kiyomasa-memorial-museum.
3. F. W. Seal, "Katō Kiyomasa," The Samurai Archives,
http://www.samurai-archives.com/kiyomasa.html.
4. "Battle of Shizugatake Overview," Battles of Sengoku Jidai Japan,
http://www.trentu.ca/stuorg/tja/sengoku/shizufiles/shizuoverview.html.
5. F. W. Seal, "Katō Kiyomasa," The Samurai Archives.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid.
8. "Kato Kiyomasa: Chikanobu and Yoshitoshi Woodblock Prints," Claremont Colleges Digital Library,
http://ccdl.libraries.claremont.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/cyw/id/21.
9. F. W. Seal, "Katō Kiyomasa," The Samurai Archives.
10. Sofia, "The Tiger in Asian Art," The Coolture.
http://www.thecoolture.com/eco-sustainability/the-tiger-in-asian-art/.
11. F. W. Seal, "Katō Kiyomasa," The Samurai Archives.
12. Stephen Turnbull, Strongholds of the Samurai Japanese Castles 250-1877 (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2009), 228.
13. Ibid., 229.
14. Ibid.
15. Ibid.
16. Ibid., 230.
17. Ibid., 231.
18. Ibid.
19. F. W. Seal, "Katō Kiyomasa," The Samurai Archives.
20. "Kato Kiyomasa," History.com,
http://www.history.com/topics/kato-kiyomasa.
21. Stephen Turnbull, Samurai Commanders (2): 1577-1638 (Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2005), 47.
22. Chris Glenn, "Hideyoshi and Kiyomasa Memorial Museum."
23. Eric Obershaw, "Kumamoto Castle," JCastle Guide to Japanese Castles,
http://www.jcastle.info/castle/profile/8-Kumamoto-Castle.
24. Stephen Turnbull, Samurai Commanders (2): 1577-1638.
25. F. W. Seal, "Katō Kiyomasa," The Samurai Archives.
26. "Kato Kiyomasa: Chikanobu and Yoshitoshi Woodblock Prints," Claremont Colleges Digital Library.
27. F. W. Seal, "Katō Kiyomasa," The Samurai Archives.
28. "Meiji Jingu Gyoen," Meiji Jingu.
http://www.meijijingu.or.jp/english/nature/2.html.
29. Plaque, Meiji Jingu Gyoen, January 10th, 2011.
30. "Meiji Jingu Gyoen," Meiji Jingu.
31. Plaque, Meiji Jingu Gyoen, January 10th, 2011.
32. Robert Irvine, "Japan's 'Power Spots' Draw Those Looking for Hope, Drive, and a Touch of the Mystical," The Mainichi Daily News, January 1st, 2012,
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/features/archive/news/2012/01/20120101p2g00m0fe036000c.html, (accessed February 8th, 2012).
33. Felicity Hughes, "Power Spots: Japan's Latest Spiritual Crazy," Japan Pulse, September 2nd, 2010,
http://blog.japantimes.co.jp/japan-pulse/power-spots-japan%E2%80%99s-latest-spiritual-craze/, (accessed February 8th, 2012).
34. Robert Irvine, "Japan's 'Power Spots' Draw Those Looking for Hope, Drive, and a Touch of the Mystical."
35. Ibid.
36. Ibid.
37. "Meiji Jingu Gyoen," Meiji Jingu.
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