中山邸跡
明治政府の議定を務めた中山忠能の娘慶子は、孝明天皇の典侍となり、1852年に皇太子祐宮を産みました。のちの明治天皇である祐宮が4歳になるまで育てられた家がこの敷地内に残っています。皇太子が2歳のときに起こった日照りにより古い井戸が枯れたため、新しい井戸が掘られ、その井戸が現在も残っています。この新しい井戸は、皇太子の名にちなんで「祐井」と名づけられました。
明治天皇の御製の歌は10万首にも及んでいますが、その多くは、次の歌のように、豊かな人生の教訓を含んでいるものです。
あらし吹く世にも動くな人ごころいはほにねざす松のごとくに
Site of the Nakayama Residence
Nakayama Tadayasu (1809–1888) was a senior courtier whose daughter, Yoshiko (1836–1907), became concubine to the emperor and gave birth to Prince Sachi no Miya in 1852. The prince ascended to the imperial throne as Emperor Meiji (1852–1912). The house in which the future emperor was cared for during the first four years of his life still stands behind the gate. The well that serves the residence replaced an earlier well that dried up during a drought when the young prince was two. The new well, Sachi-no-i, was named after him.
The composition of Japanese waka poetry played a central role in the cultural life of the nobles who lived in and around the palace. The Emperor Meiji was a highly prolific poet, composing some 100,000 waka poems or gyosei. Many of these poems provide valuable lessons for life. One example reads:
Do not be swayed
by the raging storms
of every age. The human heart
must be steadfast,
a pine rooted deeply on a rock.
(Arashi fuku / yo ni mo ugoku na / hito gokoro / iwao ni nezasu / matsu no gotokuni)
