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In the late nineteenth century a wealthy silk merchant, Hara Tomitaro, established his residence in sculptured parkland on Yokohama's southern hills and filled it with rare and beautiful buildings from Kamakura and the Kansai region. Today Sankei-en (daily: outer garden 9am-5pm, inner garden 9am-4.30pm; Y300 each) is divided into an outer garden and a smaller inner core, where most of the famous structures are located. To reach Sankei-en, take bus #8 from Yokohama or Sakuragicho stations to Honmoku Sankeien-mae, from where the garden is a three-minute walk, or hop on a JR Negishi-line train to Negishi Station and then a bus as far as the Honmoku stop, 600m north of the main gate. From the gate, follow the well-marked route to the inner garden , where Rinshunkaku - an elegant, lakeside mansion built for one of the Tokugawa lords in 1649 - is the only structure of its kind still in existence. Another Tokugawa legacy, dating from 1623, sits beside a picturesque stream a few minutes further on; named Choshukaku, it originally served as a tea ceremony house in the grounds of Kyoto's Nijo Castle . Tenju-in may not be as famous, but it's worth walking up beside the stream to see its fine carving. This little seventeenth-century temple dedicated to Jizo, the guardian deity of children, hails from Kamakura. In the less formal outer garden , thatched farm roofs blend with bamboo thickets and groves of twisted plum trees, above which rises a graceful three-tiered pagoda. The most interesting building here is Old Yanohara House (Y100), the former home of a wealthy farmer, where you can take a close look at the vast roof built in gassho style - no nails but plenty of rope. Don't bother climbing up the hill to Shofukaku: the concrete viewing platform has great views of billowing chimney stacks and industrial dockyards.
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