Pat's Blog

Tamamo Park is another favorite place of mine and now that Spring has arrived, the annual sale of trees, plants and shrubs there by vendors has started. This is known as a “sea castle” and there are only a few in Japan. 80,000 square meters and built in 1590 for the Ikoma family, later ruled by the Matsudaira family for 11 generations and who ruled Sanuki (Kagawa) for 228 years.


TamamoPark


It’s so close and central and such a relaxing place to be for reflection, meditation or just simple good old peace-and-quiet. We can see the history museum right next door, too. I heard there are a few categories of Japanese parks and this one, like Ritsurin its world famous peer has ‘aspects’ that change every few meters.

Walk twenty meters or so and you’re in a different aspect. A different park … at times, totally different actually. So please keep this intentional design feature in mind when you’re walking around.

For me, the park has the most beautiful stonework from the remains of the castle once there. I took some photos, which I hope will show this lovely balance of soft and hard. Plants, trees and against stonewalls softened with such graceful curves as they meet the ground.

The at times, greenish colored stones themselves have weathered and slightly rounded their edges over the centuries. This used to be a place with lots of moats. Tons of them, so water is still a central part of its ‘aspect’ and overall design. 3 big ones in fact, an outer, middle and inner moats so there’s a lot of water and sluices and sluice gates for controlling all this water. They must have felt very threatened in those days? Or very secure? Can’t figure out quite which … both? It does explain the signs references to traditional Japanese swimming, which must have been practiced in the inner moat. (My conjecture)


On the south side are the last intact remains of the old castle’s turret or guardhouse and it’s beautiful to sit there and look at the park, cherry blossoms and to the north, the Inland Sea.




Tamamo Park also has apart from a lot of moats and water, some beautiful Tasiho era buildings, which still serve the public with occasional exhibitions, tea ceremonies and concerts.


The park operates all year but opening times may vary seasonally. But it usually opens from 7:00 A.M until 5:00 P.M. It’s directly across from the Central Takamatsu JR Station and about 5 minutes on foot. Tel: 087 851 1521 You’ll need a Japanese friend to advise you of the events being held there, so do take the time to find out as there have been some great bonsai exhibitions, moon-viewing parties etc. in the past.


There are quite a few signs in English explaining the history of the place and this makes it friendly for English speaking visitors.

Entrance fee: 200-yen adults. Children 160-yen. Cheap.


At the moment, there’s rebuilding going on of one of the stonewalls on the south side. Nobody has a clear idea of the exact scale and dimensions of the previous castle most of the old records have been lost. Sad …