PLATES XXXV. AND XXXVI. 



KORAKU-EN, OKAYAMA. 



The town of Okayama, in the province of Bizen, boasts a very handsome 

 garden known as the Koraku-En, which at one time formed a part of the grounds 

 surrounding the military palace of the lords of Bizen. It contains a large lake adorned 

 with two islands and terminating in a stream which winds in a serpentine manner 

 through the garden. Plates XXXV. and XXXVI. exhibit different views of the lake 

 and central island, the latter adorned with a small quantity of effective detail, com- 

 prising a handsome granite lantern, a few bold rocks, clipped bushes, and picturesque 

 dwarf pine-trees. The other island is connected by a bridge with the shore of the lake 

 and carries a pavilion, or garden arbour, built overhanging the water's edge. The 

 work " Landscape Gardening in Japan " contains a full description of the principal 

 features of this garden, in which reference is made to its two islands, principal hillocks, 

 iris-pool, enormous rocks, and other interesting features. The wide extent of this com- 

 position, combined with the large scale imparted to it by the sparing introduction 

 of bold detail, gives it a park-like simplicity and grandeur somewhat similar to that 

 displayed in the large garden at Komagome, described in the text to Plate XXII. 

 The design is however more formal and artificial than that of the latter, and on this 

 account better illustrates the rules of orthodox landscape gardening. The colossal and 

 grandly proportioned keep of the old castle may be seen towering above the large 

 trees of the garden. 



