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A Perfect Day in Tokyo 03/2020
The Senzokuike Park and Katsu Kaishu Memorial Museum (Ota-ku)
A new cultural spot at a popular cherry blossom venue
Senzokuike Pond seen beyond the cherry blossoms
The pond has a circumference of about 1.2 kilometers, and a leisurely walk around it will take about half an hour. A spring at the Shimizukubo Benzaiten Shrine, selected as one of the 57 best spring waters of Tokyo, is the pond’s main water source, which explains its high level of clarity. The Senzokuike Park has a number of highlights, including an aquatic garden which is working to be a natural habitat for fireflies, Itsukushima Shrine with a vermilion torii gate on Benten Island, and the beautifully arched Ikezuki Bridge. The Sakura Hiroba (The Cherry Blossom Square) and Sakurayama (Cherry Blossom Hill), with their many cherry trees, are particularly worth visiting during warm seasons. They are also recommended to be viewed while on a leisurely boat ride.
Do you know that Katsu Kaishu has deep ties with Senzokuike Pond? Kaishu built his villa on the banks of the pond, and his and his wife’s grave can still be found here. At the Katsu Kaishu Memorial Museum, which opened last September, you can learn from various perspectives about the life of this samurai who lived through a turbulent era.
Inside the Katsu Kaishu Memorial Museum.
On the left is the exterior wall of the former Seimei Bunko Library
A thorough tour of the memorial museum will reveal something new even to those with a deep knowledge of history. The Seimei Bunko Library was renovated and expanded into the Katsu Kaishu Memorial Museum. The former Seimei Bunko Library was built next to Kaishu’s villa to collect and store his personal belongings and books and documents related to him. You can enjoy an up-close view of its Neo-Gothic style façade and its Art Deco-style interior, both of which have been designated as registered tangible cultural properties by the national government.
Why not take some time to reflect on our country’s history while looking at the cherry blossoms that Kaishu had most probably admired?
[Katsu Kaishu Memorial Museum]
Phone: 03-6425-7608. Open from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. (Last admission is 5:30 p.m.) Closed on Mondays (when Monday falls on a national or public holiday, Tuesday will be closed).
General admission: 300 yen. A six-minute walk from Senzoku-ike Station on the Tokyu Ikegami Line.
Website (External link) (available in Japanese only, but the English version of their leaflet can be downloaded)