Okakura Tenshin’s Rokkakudo (place of death)

Tenshin Okakura was an art administrator and philosopher who was active during the Meiji period. He founded Tokyo Fine Arts School, the predecessor of Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and nurtured artists such as Taikan Yokoyama and Shunso Hishida, while also introducing Japanese arts overseas as the director of the Chinese and Japanese art department at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. Rokkakudo was constructed by volunteers on the site of the villa where Tenshin Okakura spent the last years of his life, and is said to have been modeled after the Yumedono at Horyuji Temple in Nara (Tenshin’s research established the artistic value of the building). It was built in 1959 by Hosokawa Moritatsu and others, and houses a golden bust of Tenshin by Hiragushi Denchu.

Tenshin visited Akakura for the first time with his family in May 1906 and was fascinated by the scenic beauty of Akakura Onsen, and in August of the following year, he built a villa there. In Akakura, he raised cows and hens, and occasionally enjoyed the company of Taikan Yokoyama, Kanzan Shimomura, and other visitors. In August 1913, his chronic nephritis worsened, and he moved to the villa in Akakura to recuperate, but he passed away on September 2 under the care of his family and disciples. In 1914, a monument was erected in his honor by Taikan Yokoyama and others.

Akakura Sanso was reconstructed in 1939 due to aging, but the pond in the garden still retains its original appearance.