It was laid by the Maeda rulers between the 1620's and 1840's and its name refers to the six attributes from a famed Sung-dynasty Chinese garden, namely : seclusion, spaciousness, abudance of water, broad views, artificiality and antiquity.
Unfortunately Kenroku-en suffers from its popularity, and flocks of eager tourists assail the garden almost everyday. Better get their early (it opens from 7am, from March to mid-October, and 8pm the rest of the year) to savour the tranquility it deserves.
The Seison-kaku Villa (成巽閣) within the precincts of the garden was erected in 1863 by daimyo Maeda Nariyasu for his mother. The well-decorated and elegant residence has the particularity of having glas windows, a rarity at that time in Japan, which were imported from the Netherlands.
Admission to the garden is ￥300, and the Seison-kaku Villa cost an additional ￥500.
