Keitakuen Garden

This guide to Keitakuen Garden in Osaka centers on Chausuyama, a low hill beside the pond that served as a command post in the 1615 Summer Siege of Osaka. It follows samurai general Sanada Yukimura, badly outnumbered and defending the Toyotomi cause, and the merchant Sumitomo family who later chose this same ground for a strolling garden. Garden designer Ogawa Jihei spent about a decade shaping the pond, its floating island, stone bridges and teahouse. Look for the low hill by the water's edge as you walk the pond path.