The Rikugien garden was initially built by Yanagisawa Yoshiyasu from 1695 until 1702.
In 1868 it was purchased by Iwasaki Yataro who remodeled the garden to his needs but kept the heart of the garden – the theme of Waka poetry.
However, he added many elements. So also the Hōraijima in the pond.
Jima is one reading of the Kanji 島 (shima) which means island. Hōrai is the Japanese term for Mt. Penglai in Chinese mythology.
Rikugiens Hōraijima is no big island but still more than a single rock as which Mount Hōrai often appears in other gardens, especially dry landscapes gardens.
In Rikugien, Hōraijima is pictured as an arch built of single rocks between two bigger, standing rocks. It symbolizes a cave.
There was also a pine tree on that island but it tended to slip into the pond when there was storm or heavy rain.
In 1976 the island was damaged due to bad weather and when being restored, the pine tree was re-planted.
During the big earthquake in 2011, the island got damaged again but was rebuilt shortly after.
A Hōraijima is not directly fitting into the topic of Wakapoetry and Waka no ura.
But the Iwasaki family seemed to like having a Hōraijima in their garden. Rikugien was at some time the main residence of Iwasaki Hisaya, the third president and son of the founder of Mitsubishi.
View our eBook about the Rikugien Garden in Tokyo!
Now let’s dig deeper into the topic of Hōraijima in general.
In our eBooks, we explain them as follows:
Hōrai
蓬莱
The Isle of Immortals
In the Bohai Sea, between China and Korea, are laying three islands.
On one we find Mount Penglai (in Japanese Mount Hōrai 蓬莱山), a paradise by all means. It is the home of the Eight Immortals, who travel on the back of cranes. Turtles are also often associated with the Mount Hōrai legend, carrying the islands on their back. Cranes and turtles are a symbol of longevity.
221 BC, Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of unified China heard of this island and send some people, including Xu Fu, to find Mount Penglai and gain the elixir of immortal life.
They failed in finding the island and Qin Shi Huang built a garden with the “Lake of Orchids” and an island with Mount Penglai to symbolize his search.
In another version, Mount Penglai lies on an island among four other islands. This might be the reason why there are often three (Hōrai 蓬莱島, Crane 鶴島, and Turtle Island 亀島) or five islands in gardens.
This story is also the reason for Mount Penglai in Chinese gardens. A pond with a set of three mountains was long the main model of royal Chinese gardens. It is called Yichi Sanshan 一池三山 – very well understandable Kanji. One pond, three mountains.
It is said that the most famous story was included in the 118th volume of the Shiji, the Chinese Historical Records by Sima Qian in the Han dynasty.
Sometimes, it is said that Xu Fu of this story didn’t find Mt. Penglai but arrived in Japan, named Mt. Fuji as Mt. Penglai, and taught the Japanese advanced Chinese knowledge.
But what is the connection between an arch or cave and Mount Hōrai?
Well, they are actually closely connected due to the belief that the immortals of Mt. Penglai are hermits.
In Shinsen-thought 神仙, hermits are living in caves which are called Dōkutsu ishigumi 洞窟石組 in Japanese garden design. Whenever there is a cave in a Japanese garden, it is a symbol of a mystical world with a hermit living it in.
In Chinese Taoism, a hermit is a superhero. He can become invisible, see in the dark, dive very deep, run extremely fast and for a long time, can fly, and walk through fire.
Pretty similar to the Eight Immortals of the Penglai Story.
View our eBook about Stone Arrangements, including islands!
In Japanese gardens, the Taoist Mt. Hōrai is often paired with Buddhism like in Daisen-in, or with Shinto like in Koishikawa Korakuen.
This article was first published with extra-information on Patreon.com
Here is a list of literature I used for this article:
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Author: S. Goto, T. Naka
Price: around $70
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Author: Miyamoto Kenji
Price: from $33.35
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Author: Saito Katsuo
Volume 3
Price: from ¥4800
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Real Japanese Gardens 
Hi, please send me a link or the actual photo of the painting bottom right next to the mention of Mt. Penglai of your post? The painting looks to be of greens/blues of mountains and ponds, but it is so small and has no link connected to the inserted picture. Thank you.
Hi DIO,
you are right, I should have added the source of the image and I will add it now!
On mobile the picture is bigger, I guess also when you download, but here is the Wikimedia link:
When I add pictures that aren’t our own, I usually use Wikimedia pictures.
The scroll shows a hermit in a cave.
Best, Anika
Anika, there is still no link on your website and the link in your email doesn’t work. Thanks for the reply.
WordPress has translated the link I posted automatically into a picture😅 When you click on the picture in my reply, you will get to the Wikimedia Website.