Hi, this is Mandali, and I'm here to create the first post on this new site dedicated to the fight to preserve Hanezawa Garden and the last of Tokyo's primeval virgin forest.
Hanezawa Garden was the stately home of Tokyo's governor in the early 1900s, and was built on a raised section in downtown Tokyo, in a small parcel of Tokyo's primeval virgin forest. The place was rented out later as a luxury restaurant for a number of years in the 1990s, with the overwhelming support and return clientele, including myself. No-one could believe that there could be some place in the middle of Tokyo, untouched for hundreds of years, where you could breathe in the pictoresque surroundings, enjoy the best in traditional Japanese food or have beer parties in the summer, all in the shade of the imposing wooden stately home. It was magical, full stop. I cannot think of anywhere in Tokyo more majestic and imposing, yet tranquil and unassuming.
After a series of apparently bad profit figures, the place shut down abruptly two years ago and is now about to be demolished completely to make way for cookie-cutter upscale apartment blocks in glass and concrete like you can find in any upper-middle suburb anywhere. We need to stop this development immediately and find a way to conserve the building, the forestry and wildlife around it, and the heritage of the Hiroo area, one of the last traditional areas of downtown Tokyo. Secretly slipping in to view the place, I watched the home change from empty stately home to weed-infested gardens, to smashed pottery and disheveled stone lanterns in what used to be the main driveway into the home.
By the way, I live about 5 minutes' walk from the place, and this place is the soul of Hiroo as most people in the area will acknowledge. Hiroo is not only a living place for the older Japanese generations, it is a lively community of foreign embassies and their embassy staff, non-Japanese that have favored living in the Hiroo area, expecting mothers and their partners that visit the reknowned Red Cross Hospital a few minutes away, businessmen frequenting the Ebisu Prime Square - one of the busines landmarks of this area - or university students that frequent the University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo, a branch of Rome's christian university of the same name.
Like-minded souls have created an informal resistance group, the Hanezawa Garden Preservation Group, but it is time to get the word out! There will be posts here in Japanese and in English, so if you can't read it: use Google Translate, Babelfish or other web translation software, or drag that Japanese acquaintance you've never really talked to and get him/her to translate!
More soon...
4 comments:
東京の田園調布に住む３０代です。私も羽澤ガーデンをよく利用していた一人です。突然閉店には本当に驚いてしまいました。もっと友人（とくに外国人）に日本のお屋敷文化を教えてあげたかったでした。
でも更に驚いたのには文化財にならず、壊されマンションが建つ危機にあることです。海外では歴史がある家屋ほど値打ちが出るものなのに、日本では新しいものにしか興味がない人々、また古い物（家屋、人、文化）に対し、敬意を表する気持ちがない人々ばかりです。同じ日本人として恥ずべきことだと思いました。どなたかここを維持してくれないことかと、切に願います。
I`m a 30y.o. who used to frequent Hanezawa Garden. I was too shocked to see it suddenly closed. I wanted to show this place to my friends and explain its historic past, especially to foreigners.
And to hear that they will demolish this important site to build new apartments instead!! I thought this house would become an important japanese cultural property.
Lately japanese people have no respect for old things(houses,people,culture,ecc). Always NEW is the best for them.
I`m very ashamed about this and don`t want to be the same as these japanese.
I really really hope that someone can protect this hanezawa garden. You have my support.
a year later and I have just seen this news-I hope and pray the Japanese will consider leaving this beautiful area of Tokyo in it's pristine condition and make an effort to restore the gardens. I loved the Gardens-In the '70's I lived at 13-26 Hiroo san chome-my landlord family were the Abe's who were a wonderful family-we lived in a four house compound on a side street between the main street and Neseki Dori. Not only did they serve traditional Japanese fare-there was an open air facility where one could go to have beer, edamame and yakitori
does anyone know what the status is? We lived on Niseki Dori last year, so I never got to see Hanezawa Gardens - I was very disappointed to find that it was closed and to be knocked down. After a year in China, we are now moving back and I would love to know if there is any progress to save the house/gardens. Thanks.
We are looking at an apartment nearby Hanezawa Gardens and love the area. The agents do not seem to know the status of the litigation on this. Does anyone know?
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