Now and then 22

Mt. Fuji from Yamate Park: Showa - Today


(View from Yamate Park is blocked today. 2005 photo taken from
nearby Yamate Italian Garden)

"The seed of Yamate park, formerly the Bluff Gardens, was planted by one W.H. Smith. He came to Japan as an officer in the Royal Marine Light Infantry in 1864. We don’t know whether the soldier’s life no longer agreed with him or whether he was bewitched by Japan, or both, but he resigned his commission and in a short time was known as Public-Spirited, not Lieutenant, Smith. His good works on behalf of the small foreign community earned him this epithet (…)

Yamate Park, originally know as the Bluff Gardens opened in the summer of 1870. It was the first Western-style park in Japan. The first month there was no admission charge, and from July 1 a small admission fee was charged those who did not subscribe.

The gardens were a success, initially. The band of H.M.’s 1st Batallion 10th Regiment played Saturday afternoons, and evenings there were al fresco soirees by the light of Japanese lanterns (…)

But the palmy days did not last. Subscribers were too few to cover the rent. The gardens sank deeper into the red. The Government wanted to lease the land for housing. Then Sir Harry Parkes, the British Ambassador, brokered a reduction in the land rent. That allowed the women in the Settlement to form the Ladies Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (LLT&CC) in 1878. Thus Bluff Gardens became the birthplace of modern tennis in Japan (…)

The LLT&CC, now the YITC (Yokohama International Tennis Community), is Japan’s oldest tennis club. The LLT&CC was the exclusive preserve of women. Men, after all, had the United Club, numerous sports facilities, and the pleasure quarter. Gentlemen could, however, be admitted to the LLT&CC as honorary members. Japanese were ineligible for membership. Children and dogs were barred from the grounds. Later men were admitted, and still later, in 1964, Japanese. Now children can join too. Still excluded is man’s best friend."

(Burritt Sabin, 'A historical guide to Yokohama', ed. Yurindo, Yokohama, 2002, p. 27-29)