Sankeien, a Japanese garden located in Honmoku, in Yokohama City’s Naka Ward, was built by Sankei Hara, a businessman and tea ceremony expert. The garden features 17 historical buildings, gathered from places such as Kyoto and Kamakura.

Of these, "Kakushokaku", designated a tangible cultural property of Yokohama, is the largest wooden building, with a total floor area of approximately 950㎡.

The kanji for “kaku” in Kakushokaku means "tsuru (crane)” while "sho" is the kanji that means "to soar”. The name is derived from the building’s exterior appearance, suggestive of a flying crane.

Kakushokaku was built by Sankei Hara as his own residence in 1902, and marked the start of the development of Sankeien over the next 20 years.

Although many alterations were made as a result of earthquakes and war, restoration work carried out from 1998 to 2000 returned it to its original state.

The main wing in Kakushokaku is the “Gakushitsuto”.

Sankei used to invite painters to this wing to appreciate and admire the masterpieces of antique art he had collected.

As well as this, the "Kyakumato” was offered to Japanese master painters as a studio. Taikan Yokoyama's "Ryuin" and Seison Maeda’s "Mikoshiburi" were key works produced in the Kyakumato.

Kakushokaku is an historic space that has protected and fostered Japanese culture.

"Kakushokaku" the topic of this week’s edition, will be specially open to the public from this weekend.

The exhibition period is from Saturday 8th - Sunday 16th August.

For the latest information, please visit the Sankeien official website.

You’ve been listening to InterFM897’s public service announcement from Yokohama City. This week’s edition was on Sankeien’s “Kakushokaku”.