Study of Rai Sanyo

Highlight

Although located in the heart of the city, Sanyo so enjoyed the natural view from here that he referred to it as fukei-muso, or peerless scenery

Enjoy the flow of Kamogawa River and vivid peaks of Higashiyama from this study

Rai Sanyo was a Confucian scholar, poet and historian active toward the end of the Edo period (1603~1868). His writings became spiritual pillars that supported those loyal to the Sonjo party (a faction believing that the Emperor should be revered, and foreign enemies repelled and were thus against shogunate rule) at the time of the Meiji restoration - thus, he was a driving force in modernizing Japan.
Having changed homes on numerous occasions, Sanyo finally settled in a house on this site by the Kamogawa River, naming it Suimeiso, or literally “villa where light shimmers on water”. The garden was dominated by flowering and fruiting trees. And at the rear of the house, Sanyo added a study-cum-tea arbor that he called “Sanshi-suimei-sho”, which remains along with part of the garden to this day.
Sanyo himself took the initiative to design this cottage-like edifice and chose the materials to be used in making the several rooms and verandah, where he enjoyed many a soiree with other writers and artists.