Suma Rikyu Park is located on the site of former 須磨離宮(武庫離宮）Suma Rikyu, a villa used by both Taisho and Showa Emperors, which was built toward the end of 1914 but mostly burned down from World War II. Numerous massive trees including aged pine trees and rocks remind you that the place was once a detached palace.
Suma Rikyu Park is about 10 minutes’ walk from either Tsukimiyama Station or Sumadera Station of the Sanyo Railway. Pine trees on Rikyu-michi (Rikyu Road) from the main entrance continuing to the seaside are the traces of the time of Suma Rikyu.
Trees along the path leading to Chumon Gate and Rose Garden are so gigantic that I couldn't take pictures of their whole shapes.
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| 中門/Chumon Gate |
The park was opened to the public in 1967 to commemorate the royal wedding of the reigning Emperor after the grant by the Imperial Household Agency to Kobe City. The main garden is a beautiful European style rose garden set around a water motif and fills about 58 hectares. From the rest house, you can see the sea of Suma through its forest.
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This view and garden is almost the same with the time when I visited about 30 years ago. |
I was so lucky that the roses around the fountains were in full bloom.
The water that springs out in front of the rest house becomes a cascading waterfall that runs through the rose-lined canal and ends with a large spouting fountain.
Regardless of the time you go, you can enjoy a variety of beautiful seasonal flowers and wonderful trees throughout the year spread all over the garden.
Twisted pine trees give Japanese twist to the European style garden modelled after the Palace of Versailles park.
Other than the rose garden, Suma Rikyu Park includes a botanical garden, which was once the residence of the Okazaki combine (24 hectares), and a playground forest for children.
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| Participants to the Rose Garden Candle Night Halloween |
I love the garden so much with all the beautifully coloured flowers and the cascading water fountains. So refreshing!
ReplyDeleteBreathtaking pictures as usual. I love flowers. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteHello:
ReplyDeleteWhat a splendid looking rose garden and on such a vast scale. How wonderful it is that the public has access to it all.
Cudowne miejsce. Są stare, olbrzymie drzewa. Jest piękna fontanna, które ja uwielbiam. Wokół tyle różnokolorowych kwitnących róż. Takie widoki to radość dla oczu i serca. Pozdrawiam.
ReplyDeleteWonderful place. These old, giant trees. There is a beautiful fountain, which I love. Around many colorful blooming roses. Such views of the pictures is a joy for the eyes and heart. Yours.
What a beautiful looking garden. Autumn roses often seem a bit sad to me, a brave show of colour but helpless in the face of advancing winter. However, Spring always follows....
ReplyDeleteこんばんは。東京の立川市にも昭和天皇を記念した国営昭和記念公園が有ります。ここには残念ながらバラ園は有りません。
ReplyDeleteセンスの良い写真に見とれています。ここも沈床庭園ですね。バラは高い所から見下ろすのが一番綺麗です。
噴水の写真も感動的です。 私もバラのブログを１０月１９日に書きました。見ていただけると幸いです。
What a beautiful flower! I was surprised that there are many flowers even in autumn. I should visit such flower garden.
ReplyDeleteまだこんなに薔薇が咲いている公園が関西にあるのですね。そう思って見るからか、やはり秋の風情を感じさせるものもありますね。小ぶりでひっそりとしていて。素敵な公園！
ReplyDeleteThe multiple fountains are such a pretty sight. I have been to Versailles and can see its inspiration in these places you photographed, stardust. The flowers and trees will likely always survive beyond the structures that are placed within them. But the architecture of the villa and manmade design of the gardens certainly adds to the beauty. :)
ReplyDeletethe blooms are beautiful, but i love that tree!
ReplyDeleteI remember these words, "What's in a name? that which we call a rose．By any other name would smell as sweet."
ReplyDeleteI feel as if fragrances came from your photos.
keiko
Wow, Yoko!
ReplyDeleteThose are wonderful roses! Beautiful pictures!
I loved the sequence of water springs, they look so summer like! So delicate with all the roses around!
Cheers,
Márcia
Ohoooo! Suma Rikyu Park! You were really lucky to ba able to see the beautiful roses in full bloom there! I have not been there for a long time. I think the park is the most beautiful in autumn and spring when frangrant roses bloom!! Thank you so muuch for sharing.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful park scenes and I love your photos of the single roses and the majestic tree.
ReplyDeleteA sweet scent is drifting around my computer while reading your lovely post! And my face is wet from the mist of the fountain! Imagination and the power and beauty of your presentation makes it all seem real! Thank you Yoko! :-)
ReplyDeleteSuch gorgeous shots of those amazing trees and lovely roses.
ReplyDeleteSpectacular shots, Yoko of a wonderful landscaped garden with so many colorful roses! The twisted tree is artistic, like a painting. It always feels good to visit places that have resisted change continue to retain their beauty over time. Thank you for the lovely tour :)
ReplyDeleteThat is some villa! And the flowers! Absolutely incredible. What a marvelous place. And it's so big! I got a kick out of the Halloween people. I guess Halloween is celebrated around the world. I didn't know that. I can see why one would not want to leave this park - it's like Paradise!
ReplyDeleteRe your comment on Stone Creek: Stone Creek, on the southwest side of Ocala, is for people 55 years old or above. It's relatively new and has about 800 houses and villas (twin homes) but they eventually plan to build 4000 homes. We moved here three years ago from a home in east Ocala. We live in a twin home or villa which is nice because the corporation takes care of the yard maintenance, and the outside of the structure, including the roof. For a fee, of course! :-)
Although Halloween wasn't celebrated in Japan until recent years and there are many elderly people who don’t know Halloween, it's becoming popular year after year. Many stores sell colorful Halloween decorations, costumes, and sweets. Some Japanese shopping malls, theme parks, and towns hold pleasant Halloween events like the Candle Night Halloween at this park. However, children’s trick-or-treat is hardly seen. Those costumed children were there to participate in haunted attractions.
DeleteOops, I forgot to mention that we don't have snow here. Mostly our winters are very mild. We've had a couple years, though, where we had a number of days in the 30s (fahrenheit) but at this time of year, for example, our days are in the 70s or low 80s (or maybe the 60s) and usually the nights stay in the 50s, although tonight is supposed to get down to 48 degrees.
ReplyDelete中門、趣ありますね。噴水がとてもきれいです。大きなバラ園で、今頃でも、まだ楽しめますね。コスチューム姿の子供達かわいいです。私たちもなぜかその日ほんの少し、魔女のヘアバンドや、オレンジ色の飾り等つけて、エアロビクス楽しみました。
ReplyDeleteHola, tienes un interesante blog lleno de cosas bellas y sin duda merece visitas
ReplyDeleteNara es una de las más bellas ciudades de Japón y si no me equivoco es una antigua capital de país.
Sigue así con tu blog, es de verdad muy interesante
Yoko,you are certainly having beautiful autumn weather! The roses appear spectacular,as do the gardens and fountains.I think they have a French or Italian look to them. Halloween seems to have found it's way around the world!
ReplyDeleteThis must be a wonderful place to explore - thanks for sharing.
Have a lovely week!
Ruby
Your rose photos are glorious.
ReplyDeleteベルサイユ風の庭園に松の木。ミスマッチに思えても面白いのかも・・ですね。バラはきちんと育てれば秋にもこんなにもきれいに咲くのですね。うすピンクのバラの背景のクリスタルな噴水の水。秋という事を忘れそうです。
ReplyDeletelovely images of a beautiful place in a wonderful country.
ReplyDeleteこんばんわ。
ReplyDelete須磨離宮が、美しくメンテナンスされているのが良く分かります。３０年も変わらない景観を保つことは大変な事ですよね。秋空に吹き上がる噴水はちょっと寒そうですが沢山のバラが彩りを添えていますね。訪れる人々がゆったりとした気分で散策している様にみえます。
Tomoko
Very beautiful place and the flowers are stunning.
ReplyDeleteGreetings, Yoko! Thank you for writing and explaining the place of Halloween in Japan. Very interesting. Re your comment on the Stone Creek photo: Actually, the temperature was probably in the mid-50s F, so not so cold; but we have warm days and when the cool nights collide with warm air rising from the earth, we get interesting mists and fog. I played golf a few days ago and the fog was so thick I could not see the ball at all. But we eventually found them! :-)
ReplyDeleteYokoさん こんにちは！
ReplyDelete須磨の離宮公園ですね。とても懐かしいです。
親戚の家が近かった為か、子どもの頃、家族で度々行きました。
父も一緒だった、夜のイベント？が特に楽しかった記憶があります。
子供ながら、どこかエキゾチックな公園だなぁと思っていました。
今見ても、噴水、モニュメント建築、ヤシの木、刈り込まれた木など、独特な個性で面白いです。d(ﾟ-^*) ﾅｲｽ♪
I'm finally catching up with all my favourite blogs. (My blogging activities usually stop mid-week, when work takes over.)
ReplyDeleteRoses! I often think a rose is the most perfect flower in creation. Roses and camellias. I didn't get a chance to see any autumn roses in Tokyo this year (or chrysanthemums), so I really enjoyed this display on your blog. I also found myself staring at the faraway sea and the lovely fountains. Very, very beautiful. ^^
Thank you, Yoko, for those beautiful pictures of roses and the park. And the tree and the lavenders. (I'm not sure, they look like lavenders and their colour is wonderful) I have enjoyed each photo.
ReplyDeleteGrethe ´)
Hi Yoko,
ReplyDeletewhen looking through your blog photos without reading the text, I would have thought you took them somewhere in (southern) Europe. At a second glance going through your subtitles they confirmed my first impression. The photos of all the beautiful roses takes me back to German late summer. Though we had the first frost, most of our autumnal blossoms are already faded... )-;
Thank you very much for bringing back summertime memories! :-)
Enjoy your weekend,
Uwe.
What a beautiful place!
ReplyDeleteWonderful photos as always!
Thanks for sharing.
Wish you a wonderful weekend.
Mette
Lovely Suma Rikyu Park .
ReplyDeleteGuau!!! i love the big tree fingers...
what a shame that burn in the 2nd World War!
I feel with all my heart ...
It is a beautiful park!
best regards
Domo arigato for your visit!!
Hello Yoko, must be great to spend a day at the park, that colorful! the Botanical Garden with the greenhouse should be spectacular.
ReplyDeleteHave a nice day.
dear Yoko, what a relaxing walk...I could almost smell the roses, could u also smell them (sometimes the aromais int he air); In bulgaria we have the Rose Valley, wehere every summer tons of roses are collected and used for the production of rose oil...happy weekend form me!
ReplyDeleteHello,stardust.
ReplyDeleteThe line of fountains is very elegant.
Passage of time seems to be expressed in them.
Such a space will heal my heart.
The ease has value most in life.
Thank you.
ruma
Thanks a lot, Yoko! Your pictures are a welcome break from November humdrum. Is "European" the word used for this sort of gardens? In Europe they differentiate more regular and symmetrical French style and less formal English garden - freer, close to nature. Whatever the name, the roses are lovely!
ReplyDeleteFrom Blagoveschensk, deep in snow,
Irina
Thank you for pointing it out the difference between French style garden and more natural English garden. Since that rose garden is modeled after the Palace of Versailles Park, I meant French style by “European Style”. Traditional Japanese gardens are not symmetrical and much closer to natural English gardens.
DeleteA lovely walk...
ReplyDeletePierre