Seikeien Garden

Seikeien is a famous garden known for its kaiyushiki style garden. This beautiful garden is centered around the “Tamano-ike” pond, which is the source of the Hoshi River that flows through Kumagaya City.

The garden was laid out by Takei Jonyo, who was the head innkeeper of Kumagaya-juku from the Keio period to the first year of Meiji (1868-1912), who built a villa around the pond, planted trees and bamboo, and collected famous stones to create the garden.

Many members of the Imperial family and important political figures visited this garden, including Empress Dowager Shoken, Prince Yonin Chichibu, Shigenobu Okuma, and Soho Tokutomi.

Originally called “Ikenotei,” the garden was named “Seikei” by Zen Master Mokuzune of Daitokuji Temple in Kyoto when he visited the area in the early Showa period (1926-1989).

When the property was transferred to Kumagaya City in 1950, it was renamed “Seikei-en. Since the building was deteriorating, restoration of the building and garden was conducted from 1990 to 1992.

During the restoration work, three sukiya-style buildings, Seikeiryo, Shofu-an, and Sekisui-kaku, were built to recreate a prestigious atmosphere.