May 8, 2014 - 1 min read

Numazu Imperial Villa Memorial Park

An elegant residence in a wild green garden

By Peter Sidell

Community writer

Much of the garden is running wild, but you'll also find beds of colorful flowers

The main gate to the park, though the actual visitor entrance is a couple of minutes away

This grove of trees stands at the entrance

Much of the garden is like this, a miniature forest of tall, slender trees

The edge of the park gives a view out over Suruga Bay

Especially at the edge of the park, the trees have been bent back by the wind off the bay

There's a decorative path between the two separate parts of the garden

Sometimes in amongst the trees you'll find a lawn, and here a picnic shelter

The southern part of the garden also has these frames with wisteria hanging from them, and bees buzzing busily around

The rooms of the villa are cool, light and airy

The former imperial kitchen, though I doubt the Emperor did any cooking himself

There's plenty of natural light in the villa

The Emperor's elegant sitting-room

Towards the exit there were a number of rooms with displays of hanging toys and dolls, perhaps for the Emperor's kids to enjoy

A bus ride or longish walk from Numazu station is the Imperial Villa Memorial Park, a former residence for the Japanese imperial family, now open to the public; entry to the park costs ¥100, to the park and villa together ¥400. Much of the park is running a little wild, with high grass, untended paths and tightly packed groves of tall, slender trees, but there are also lawns, flower beds and a small but peaceful pond. The elegant, immaculately preserved villa is worth taking your time to look around; it's enjoyably light and airy, and it gives an interesting insight into how the imperial family lived.

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Peter Sidell

By Peter Sidell

Community writer

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