Maruyama ParkRestoring cultural properties

Maruyama Park, Kyoto's oldest park, was opened in 1886 and designated a national Place of Scenic Beauty in 1931. To its east lies the abundant nature of the Higashiyama mountains; its other three sides are surrounded by historical temples and shrines, including Yasaka Shrine to the west, Kodai-ji Temple to the south, and Chion-in Temple to the north. As symbolized by the Gion Weeping Cherry, it is also famous for its cherry blossoms and has developed into one of the city's leading recreational areas.

Long before it became a park, this area was already known during the Edo period (1603-1868) as the Yasaka neighborhood's central thoroughfare.
Following the government-issued Land Seizure Edict of 1871, it came under public ownership and was opened as a park in 1886 to preserve it as one of Kyoto's famous destinations. Thereafter, the area was placed under Kyoto City's park management. After several phases of integrating private property that had bern interspersed throughout the park, it took on its present form in 1913-14 under the "Maruyama Park Improvement Plan" led by architect Takeda Goichi (1872-1938). It was at this time that a music hall, recreation facilities, and a garden area featuring a waterfall and stream created by legendary Kyoto landscape architect Ogawa Jihei VII (1860-1933) were made.

The garden on Maruyama Park's east side created by Ogawa Jihei VII is considered to be a pioneering example of garden creation in a park setting. With a waterfall that uses the Lake Biwa Canal as a water source and a wide and shallow stream extending from it, the garden today remains a place surrounded in murmuring streams that manages to convey the feeling of a valley torrent despite its elevated location.

*Water was incorporated into Maruyama Park from the Lake Biwa Canal until 1993. The park has used circulating underground water since then.