Genkyu-en Samurai Gardens

Genkyu-en, One of the Great Edo Period Daimyo Gardens

Samurai were men of the sword. Trained warriors dedicated to the martial arts, but like so much in samurai culture, like swords, armour and castles, everything had both form and function. The samurai were men of war, but at the same time they were also men of culture, dedicated to the arts of tea, flower arranging and even gardening.

By 1677, Japan’s need for war had pretty much ended. The Tokugawa clan had taken control of the country following the Battle of Sekigahara 77 years earlier, and had attacked the rival Toyotomi clan in the Winter Siege of Osaka of 1614, and again a year later destroying them completely in the Summer Sieges if 1615. Since then, under strict Tokugawa rule, Japan had been at peace. By this time, the nation had entered a period of self-imposed exile. No Japanese were allowed to leave the country, and, except for the few Dutch ships that were permitted to trade at the small island of Dejima in Nagasaki Bay, no foreigners were allowed in.