Goodbye Tottori Castle
On to Jinpukaku, which is at the bottom of the castle hill.
From JapanVisitor website:
Jinpukaku means "Palace of the Wind of Virtue" and was built in 1907 by then head of the Ikeda clan, Nakahiro Ikeda (1877-1948), whose 16th century ancestor constructed the now ruined Tottori Castle very nearby. The walls of the former castle form the north-eastern edge of the Jinpukaku grounds.
It is unclear whether it was built more as a home for the Ikeda family or as a place to host Crown Prince Yoshihito who was about to tour this part of Japan, and would become Emperor Taishō in 1912.
Jinpukaku was designed by Tōkuma Katayama (1854-1917), who was one of Japan's first Western-style architects, held a post in the Imperial Household, and also designed the original imperial museums of Nara and Kyoto. Jinpukaku was the first building in Tottori to have electric power, making it all the more symbolic of the region's modernization.
From 1912, Jinpukaku became a public hall. It was damaged by an earthquake in 1943, and from 1949 until 1972 was the Tottori Prefectural Museum (which now stands just across from it). Something of its museum role remains in the several exhibits relating to the former lords of Tottori, the Ikeda clan.
Jinpukaku is two stories, and is worth wandering through for a taste of its massive, Western-style spaciousness that must have been a unique experience for Japanese at the time.
Jinpukaku's spiral staircase is an architectural feature that further distinguishes the building.
The house is a museum, but I think it could also be rented for parties or weddings. Shoes are left at the entrance.
There are many interesting exhibits and furnishings.
The spiral staircase is fabulous.
From the outside balcony, looking in.
The back garden is Japanese.
5 comments:
Beautiful, and very unexpected!
The Japanese garden is beautiful too.
I am sorry I didn't know about this place when I visited Tottori.
It is amazing now, but imagine how unique it must have been when it was newly built!
This is really beautiful and such a marked difference from the others you've shared. It must have been quite a change on the landscape back then. I love the garden -- so elegant and beautiful. And that spiral staircase is to die for!
Amazing building, looks kind of out of place for my image of older buildings in Japan. That staircase is incredible.
Wow, what a contrast between the western-style building and the Japanese garden, although both are very pretty! I hope you had a great time exploring.
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