The first lord of the Hosokawa family, Tadahiro, discovered this spring and came to like it when he went falconry hunting. He then built a tea house. Later, it was transformed into a large-scale strolling garden, which was very popular during the Momoyama period. It was named “Jo-ju” after a phrase from a Chinese poem by Tao Yuanming. There used to be many arbors in the garden during the Genroku era, a period known for its splendid samurai culture, with ten notable Jo-ju sceneries. However, during the time of Lord Shigekata, it was simplified by removing the arbors due to anti-sumptuary laws, leaving only one arbor and the trees as they were. In the Meiji era, a shrine enshrining all the Hosokawa lords was built. It is called Izumi Shrine. Izumi means water spring.
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1 表参道鳥居 Torii Gate on the approaching road

2 出水神社本殿 The main hall of Izumi Shrine

3 神水「長寿の水」the holy water, the water of longevity

4 能楽殿 No play stage

5 流鏑馬馬場 Yabusame riding groud

6 古今伝授の間からの庭園の景色 the view from the room of Kokon Denju, ancient and modern instructions

7 社務所からの庭園の景色 the view from the shrine clerk room

8 古今伝授の間 the room of Kokon Denju

9 涌水池と富士山  spring pond and Mt. Fuji

10 成趣園池の朝靄 morning mist in Seiju-en Garden pond

11 御祭神細川忠利公銅像 the bronze statue of Hosokawa Tadatoshi, the god of the shrine

鳥居 (torii) is a symbolic gateway marking the entrance to the sacred precincts of a Shintō shrine in Japan.

能楽 (Noh drama) is the oldest surviving form of Japanese theater. It combines music, dance, and acting to communicate Buddhist themes. Often, the plot of a Noh play recreates famous scenes from well-known works of Japanese literature such as The Tale of Genji or The Tale of the Heike.

流鏑馬 (Yabusame) is a type of mounted archery in traditional Japanese archery. An archer on a running horse shoots three special “turnip-headed” arrows successively at three wooden targets. This style of archery has its origins at the beginning of the Kamakura period.

古今伝授の間 (Kokin Denju no Ma) is the room where Hosokawa Yusai taught Prince Hachijo-no-miya Tomohito about the Kokin Wakashū, a compiled anthology of waka poems, which are Japanese short poems. “Kokin Denju” means the teaching of the Kokin Waka anthology.

神道の神 (Shinto no Kami) Shinto has many gods. It originated from animism, the worship of natural things, which resulted in the creation of many gods. Some humans have been deified.

縁結びの木として話題の「梛(なぎ)」の巨木 (Enmusubi no Ki toshite Wadai no “Nagi” no Kyoboku) Enmusubi, or matchmaking, is a term that refers to all the connections that we human beings make during our lifetime.