A Private, Serene Tour of a Samurai Estate and the Gardens of Mirei Shigemori

A Historic Samurai Estate Embraced by Nature

Located in northwestern Mie Prefecture, Komono Town lies at the foothills of the Suzuka Mountains and is blessed with abundant natural beauty as well as many cultural landmarks. Home to the historic Yunoyama Onsen, which dates back to the Nara Period (710–784), and the scenic Mt. Gozaisho, the local landscape and environment have long been shaped by Komono’s clear mountain rivers. Komono is conveniently located just 50 minutes by car from central Nagoya, 70 minutes from Ghibli Park, and 90 minutes from central Kyoto.

The Komono Yokoyama Estate Garden stands on the plains east of Mt. Gozaisho and includes a residence and garden preserved by the Yokoyama family since the final years of the Edo Period. Originally retainers of the Kitabatake clan, provincial governors of Ise, the family is said to have settled in Komono in 1564.

During the Edo Period, the samurai family served as local governors of the Komono Domain, dedicating themselves to serving the region. In the modern era, the family produced a village mayor, a member of parliament, and many physicians. After the war, they transformed their estate into a private villa, safeguarding its legacy for future generations.

Stroll Through a Residence and Garden Preserved Since the Edo Period

The Komono Yokoyama Estate Garden features several historic structures: the main residence with a shoin study (drawing room) connected by covered corridors, an earthen storehouse, a former clinic, and the Jinjitsu-an teahouse. The estate garden is made up of four distinct spaces, each one with its own unique atmosphere. There’s the forecourt garden leading from the main gate to the entrance, a front garden south of the residence and drawing room, a secluded rear garden to the north, and Jinjitsu-an’s teahouse garden.

In March 2020, the garden was designated a National Registered Monument (Places of Scenic Beauty category). In April the same year, the main gate, residence, drawing room, earthen storehouse, Jinjitsu-an, and the former clinic were honored as National Registered Tangible Cultural Properties. The garden is the 1968 work of Mirei Shigemori (1896–1975), one of the most influential landscape designers of the 20th century. It stands today as a defining feature of the estate. The commissioning of the garden also involved a construction of a new drawing room and the relocation of the teahouse.

During this exclusive experience, you’ll go on a guided tour led by Yoji Yokoyama, the current head of the Yokoyama family and grandson of Hidekichi Yokoyama, the 12th-generation head of the family who commissioned Mirei Shigemori to design the estate garden. Visitors will be granted rare access to historic spaces normally closed to the public, exploring them in depth and enjoying private commentary from an expert. As you stroll through the nature-rich estate grounds, you will not only feel closer to Japanese history and traditions, but also experience a quiet sense of calmness and a restoration of the spirit.

An Exclusive Tour Through Samurai Treasures and Mirei Shigemori Gardens

The tour starts at the estate’s main gate, a fascinating landmark built before 1854. After hearing stories about it, guests are led to the main residence, rebuilt in the late Edo Period after the original was destroyed by a devastating earthquake. From there, visitors head to the refined drawing room via an elegant covered corridor. Moving through these spaces, visitors are treated to tales about the legacy of the Yokoyama family across generations.

In the drawing room, guests view treasured Yokoyama heirlooms: swords attributed to renowned Japanese swordsmiths, historic hanging scrolls, and a Hagiyama ware tea bowl received from the Owari Tokugawa clan through the Hijikata family, former lords of the Komono Domain. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience the refinement and aesthetic sensibility of a distinguished samurai household up close.

The next stop is the Jinjitsu-an teahouse. Its name comes from a classical Chinese poem in which spring, here representing truth, is found after an all-day search in the plum buds of a nearby garden. Embedded in this reference is a Zen teaching that every day, without exception, is one-of-a-kind and irreplaceable.

From the drawing room’s seated waiting area, guests follow stepping stones to the teahouse, originally built in the mid-Meiji Period (1868–1912) and relocated from Nagoya to the Yokoyama estate in 1968. A surviving okoshie-zu (a foldable 3D architectural plan) by Omotesenke tea ceremony master Jokei Yoshida can also be viewed during the tour. The Jinjitsu-an is a modest grass-hut teahouse in the modern sukiya style characterized by a gabled roof and tiled eaves.

The garden is made up of four distinct areas: the forecourt garden, front garden, teahouse garden, and rear garden, all designed by Mirei Shigemori according to the principles of Teioku Ichinyo, in which residence and garden are conceived as one unified whole.

The forecourt garden leading from the main gate to the entrance of the residence is paved with flagstones, lending the approach an elegant, dignified appearance. Spreading south of the main house and drawing room is the dry landscape front garden where, at the center of a white-sand sea, lies a heart-kanji-shaped island amidst raked patterns bringing to mind gentle waves. The garden’s boat-shaped stone surrounded by sand ripples represents an inner journey of the soul towards enlightenment. The view shifts depending on the angle, reflecting both the depth of nature and the principles of Zen Buddhism.

Visitors will also get a chance to stroll through the teahouse garden as well as the rear garden modeled after the rural landscape of Komono during the Showa Period (1926–1989). As you pass through these different gardens, you’ll gain invaluable insight into Mirei Shigemori’s approach to garden design. Together with the in-depth commentary by the Yokoyama family head, the experience offers a quiet, refined encounter with samurai history and culture, Zen teachings, and the work of one of modern Japan’s leading garden designers.

A Tea Ceremony with Yokoyama Family Heirlooms

Once the tour of the estate concludes, guests are served matcha green tea and traditional sweets in the drawing room while learning about the close ties between the samurai class and the tea ceremony, as well as the tea tradition’s underlying wish for peace. No other place offers such an in-depth encounter with the tea ceremony and calming views of a dry landscape garden as the Komono Yokoyama Estate Garden.

Shaped by Zen thought, long an integral part of the samurai ethos, the tea ceremony expresses itself through its setting, from the scroll hanging in the alcove to the floral arrangement and the ceremonial utensils. All of these elements come together to create an aesthetic that honors nature and cultivates inner peace.

During this exclusive experience, guests may view rare tea utensils and other Yokoyama heirlooms, including hanging scrolls passed down through generations and a special tea bowl said to have been a gift from the Owari Tokugawa clan received through the Hijikata family, former lords of the Komono Domain.

Matcha green tea is then enjoyed in a traditional Kozan ware tea bowl, crafted locally in Komono and rooted in the traditional Banko ware. As you take note of each bowl’s patterns and colors while savoring the tea together with seasonal Japanese sweets, you’ll find yourself immersed in the refined, quiet sensibility of Japan’s unique tea culture.

Encounters with History and Culture that Bring Inner Peace

The historically invaluable Komono Yokoyama Estate Garden contains both National Registered Monument and National Registered Tangible Cultural Properties. The estate’s residence, whose history goes back to the late Edo Period, stands in harmony with the modern garden designed by Mirei Shigemori, a leading figure of Japanese garden design. The garden celebrates the same quiet beauty of nature as Shigemori’s Hasso Garden, part of the Hojo gardens at Tofuku-ji temple in Kyoto.

Exploring this historic estate under the personal guidance of the Yokoyama family head offers rare access to a samurai heritage deeply rooted in the culture of Komono and the austere spirit of Zen. Mie Prefecture is also home to other distinguished gardens, including Rokka-en in Kuwana, the Kitabatake Samurai Gardens in Tsu, and the Un’yu-en garden at Senju-ji, the head temple of the Takada school of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, also located in Tsu. Visiting these sites and experiencing firsthand the narrative woven into each garden adds a whole new dimension to a journey through this corner of Japan.

Architecture and garden design merge seamlessly throughout this historic site, accompanied by historically significant heirlooms. Combined, they help visitors feel how time has shaped this land and bring them closer to the refined discipline at the core of Japanese traditions and culture. When that moment comes, the heart settles, leaving you with a profound sense of inner peace and renewed vitality.