Former Residence of the Toshima Family

This house was built in 1828 as the retirement home of Yoshida Kanetomo, a second-rank retainer of the Yanagawa Domain. It was later donated to the Tachibanas, who ruled the domain. After they used it as a tea room for a while, it became the property of the Toshima family. The garden was designated as a national scenic spot (on August 25, 1978) and the residence as a tangible cultural property of Fukuoka Prefecture (on April 23, 1957). The building underwent conservation and repair work in 2001, when it was restored to what it looked like in the late Edo era. 　Located on the western edge of what used to be the samurai neighborhood below Yanagawa Castle, the residence is a two-story sukiya-zukuri wooden building with a thatched reed roof, but it also has some tiles. South from the sitting room is a garden that was built for viewing the pond, whose water is drawn from the Yanagawa Castle moat. The pond is surrounded by a beach made from cobblestones and pebbles a features irregularly piled stones and unique stone formations. The garden is bordered by trimmed hedges and trees, and the circumference of the pond features trees, including podocarpus, fir, pine, camellia, maple, azalea, Japanese cleyera, boxwood and Eurya emarginata pruned in the shape of large steps. Meanwhile, the trees further behind the pond are reminiscent of the deep mountains. 　There were many of these pond gardens around the base of Yanagawa Castle, but only a handful remain. Of these, the Toshima and Tachibana Gardens are invaluable cultural properties that are also open to the public. Visitors can sit in the sitting room and enjoy the stunning view.