Kyu-Kawazumike (The home of the Kawazumi family)

The Kawazumike dates back to at least Kusakamuraji-kawazumi-yoichi
Oeno Kiyomasa who died in 1369 (the Ouan era 2) in the period of thenorthern and southern dynasties. During the Edo era, the Kawazumi
family were the headmen of Kusaka village and for many generations
the headmen all had the ﬁrst name, Sakubei. In 1798 (the Kansei era10), the famous writer, Akinari Ueda stayed in Kusaka village andformed a friendship with the 15th head of the family, Tsuneyuki. The
19th head of the family, Yujiro had a deep passion for education and put
in his own funds to build an elementary school which was based onGakusei, the Education System Order promulgated in 1872 (the Meijiera 5). Yujiroʼs daughter, Nami married into another old family, Sugiyamake and had a daughter named Taka, who became a poet known as
Tsuyuko Isonokami and published her works in Myojo Magazine.

ShimodaidokoNando
Seikakurou

Seikakurou (The guest rooms)

Seikakurou is a Sukiya-shoinstyle (Japanese tea-ceremonyhouse) building located on thewest side of the main house. Itmeasures 4 bays in length and5 bays in width and the main
room is an 8-tatami room.
Seikakuro side appearance
Seikakurou is surrounded by a
Saya-no-ma (tatami corridor)
on the south and west sides,
and there is a Tokono-ma
alcove on the north side. The
original building is said to havebeen built between 1648 and1652 (the Keian era) by
Seikakuro Inside
Soga-tanbanokami Hisasuke tospend a quiet life after his retirement as the Osaka-nishi-machi-bugyo(governor). Seikakurou also became a literary salon for some famous
writers such as Akinari Ueda, who wrote Ugetsu-monogatari. The current
building was rebuilt in 1835 (the Tempou era 6).

The House

The main house is located in the middle of the property. There are
guest rooms in the west called Seikakurou and a huge storehouse in
the north. The main house has been rebuilt and extended manytimes, but keeps the style of the early Edo era. It measures 12 bays
in length and 5.5 bays in width. The right side of the house has anearth ﬂoor and the left side has four living rooms. Only a few of theoriginal timbers remain. Most timbers have been replaced forrestoration based on research of the original building.

OrchardBackyard

DaidokoDoma

Hiroshiki
Zashiki Kuchinoma

KamayaKamayaThe main garden

Room from the Doma

Kaya

Frontyard

GinkgoToiletHigashiosaka City Designated cultural property

Kyu-Kawazumike
The Garden

The garden is in a style reserved for village headmen in the early Edo era.
The main garden has a miniature artiﬁcial hill from the south to the westsides and it is in the Kare-sansui style (dry landscape garden constructed onlywith rock and sand) with a dried pond in the middle. There is a Kame-ishi(tortoise stone) facing the guest rooms, Seikakurou. Kaku means the crane.
Both the crane and the tortoise are believed to be symbols of longevity andgood luck. The garden also has a big dry waterfall in the west and a small drywaterfall and a legendary, sacred Chinese mountain called Houraisan in thesouth. The garden was made with the concept of eternal youth and life. Thereis a worship stone, Raihaiseki and a standing water basin, Tachi-chouzubachiin the west. Stepping stones, Tobi-ishi show the route around in the garden.

View the main garden

The main garden east

The Kaya tree

Kuchinoma from the front Zashiki

The Kaya tree is an evergreen
coniferous tree and there is a big
one in the east side of the garden.
The Kaya tree can be male orfemale (dioecism) and the tree inthe garden is female. The Kayatree ﬂowers in April or May andbears purple fruit (about 2-4 cm)
in the autumn. The fruit is eaten
or used as oil. The tree in thegarden is approximately 5 meters
around and it is estimated to beabout 500 years old. It is called
Kusaka no Kaya (Kusakaʼs oﬃcialtree) and designated as a precious
natural treasure of Higashiosaka
city in 1976 (the Showa era 51). Higashiosaka City Natural monument「Kaya Kusaka」