Enoshima Samuel Cocking Garden

Enoshima Samuel Cocking Garden

The remains of a greenhouse remain even now at the site of the eclectic garden built by the British trader Samuel Cocking in 1882.
In the garden, there are plants from the Pacific and seasonal flowers planted, and there is a corner for the sister cities of Fujisawa (Matsumoto/Nagano Prefecture, Kunming/China, Miami Beach/the US, Windsor/Canada, and Boryeong-si/Korea) with international exchange as the theme.

Cocking House in Enoshima

In 1880 (Meiji 13), Samuel Cocking purchased a 500 tsubo (about 1,650㎡) piece of land at 200 Nishi-machi which was owned by Enoshima Shrine at the time, under the name of his wife, Riki Miyata and built a house there.
Its location is Kamegaoka Square which faces the current Samuel Cocking Garden across the street.
It is written as "Western building" in "Enoshima Map" (1884, reissued in 1892) compiled by Masanobu Mibu. Masanobu Mibu published "Soshu Enoshima Shinkei" in 1897 which depicts a Western-style building and a botanical garden.

Conceptual Drawing of the Restored Greenhouse

Around 1887, Samuel Cocking built a 1,100㎡ greenhouse in a corner of a botanical garden with a huge amount of private property.
Only the foundations and underground facilities remain.
The remains are three greenhouse foundations that are long from north to south, long from east to west, a western-style symmetrical pond, an underground passage that connects the attached facilities on the north side of the greenhouse, a storm wall that blocks the cold wind and ceramic pipes for collecting water, etc. This greenhouse is one of the largest in Japan built in the middle of the Meiji period and the steam heating equipment was of a very high standard at the time. As a brick greenhouse remains, it is the only existing one and it is very valuable as a modern cultural relic.

【Left】 Greenhouse Remains around 1928, Dr. Tomitaro Makino (Botanist) in the center
【Right】 Greenhouse Image (Catalog at the time)

SAMUEL COCKING (1842 - 1914)

Samuel Cocking was an Irish-born trader who immigrated to Australia before he came to Yokohama in 1868 and later started the Cocking Company at 55, the foreign settlement in Yokohama.
Cocking who made a fortune in the firm and loved the scenery and plants of Enoshima, purchased land in Enoshima under the name of his wife Riki Miyata.
In addition to the villa, he have opened a large-scale botanical garden that combines Japanese and Western styles. This is the foundation of the current Samuel Cocking Garden.
In his later years, Cocking devoted himself to interacting with people, welfare and charity work and died in his home in Hiranuma, Yokohama in 1914.

Chronology of Samuel Cocking 【Year Age】

【1842/ Tenpo 13, Age 0】
・Born in British Ireland

【1848/ Kaei 1, Age 6】
・Immigrated to Adelaide, Australia with his parents

【1852/ Kayei 5, Age 10】
・Moved residence to Melbourne and engaged in gold mining

【Around 1861, Age 19】
・Inherited property in England and returned to England

【1868/ Meiji 1, Age 26】
・Acquired the city and ship and headed to Japan to transport cargo to Kanagawa

【1869/ Meiji 2, Age 27】
・Wandering around Enoshima (Notch Island) in the stormy weather
・First landed in Yokohama on March 5th

【1870/ Meiji 3, Age 28】
・Traveled through various feudal domains in the Tohoku region, stayed in Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, visited feudal lord residences and was blessed with opportunities to appreciate calligraphy, paintings and antiques

【1871/ Meiji 4, Age 29】
・Established a trading company at 55, foreign settlement in Yokohama (current Kannai area)

【1872/ Meiji 5, Age 30】
・Married Riki Miyata (25 years old at the time)

【1877/ Meiji 10, Age 35】
・A cholera epidemic broke out in September and he made a fortune by importing and selling carbolic acid, etc.

【1879/ Meiji 12, Age 37】
・Sister Frances Glasden Cocking died in Yokohama on August 16th. She was buried in the Yamate Foreign General Cemetery

【1880/ Meiji 13, Age 38】
・In order to live in Enoshima, he purchased a land of over 500 tsubo (about 1,653㎡ of 200, Nishi-machi) under the name of his wife Riki.Miyata which was owned by Enoshima Shrine at that time
・A house was built by carpenter Wasuke in Fujisawa-daimachi

【1882/ Meiji 15, Age 40】
・Purchased over 3,200 tsubo (about 10,579 ㎡) of land owned by Enoshima Shrine where was a former vegetable garden

【1884/ Meiji 17, Age 42】
・Yokohama Hiranuma Shinden was completed and he purchased part of the land from Mr. Hiranuma and built a soap factory
・YIn November, he expressed his gratitude for the construction of a botanical garden at Enoshima Shrine, donated Tamagaki along the approach to Nakatsumiya Shrine and donated cycads and Chinese cedar trees in front of the shrine

【1885/ Meiji 18, Age 43】
・In June, the form of the Enoshima Botanical Garden was completed

【1886/ Meiji 19, Age 44】
・Advertisement with letterpress illustrations in the Illustrated Japan Directory (published by Shigeru Sasaki, Onoe-cho, Yokohama)

【1887/ Meiji 20, Age 45】
・Generate thermal power at the 55th building of the foreign settlement and obtained a business license
・The Tokaido Line opened to Kozu Station and Fujisawa Station opened on July 11th

【1889/ Meiji 22, Age 47】
・Submitted an article to the plant-related magazine "Garden" Vol. 35, No. 7

【1894/ Meiji 27, Age 52】
・With the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, the company flourished in the trade of munitions supplies

【1896/ Meiji 29, Age 54】
・Transferred all electrical facility business rights to Yokohama Kyodo Lighting Company and moved from Building 55 to 75

【1902/ Meiji 35】
・The Enoshima Electric Railway (currently Enoden) opened to Katase Station

【1909/ Meiji 42, Age 67】
・Submitted a note to the Yokohama Semi-Centennial newspaper published by Japan Gusset Newspaper
・This is his only surviving article about the past and present of the foreign settlement

【1914/ Taisyo 3, Age 72】
・Died of heart disease on February 26 at 1-8 Hiranuma-cho, Yokohama City
・Buried in Miyata Family Cemetery

【1915/ Taisyo 4】
・On the first anniversary of his death, his wife Riki Miyata (67 years old at the time) erected a tombstone for “Kenmei-in Eiyo Shutoku Koji” (posthumous Buddhist name) in the public cemetery in Aizawa, Naka-ku, Yokohama.

References: Cocking Enoshima Botanical Garden (Survey report on the preservation and utilization of greenhouse remains)

Cocking Company (Yokohama Settlement)

Samuel Cocking opened a trading company at 55 in the Yokohama foreign settlement (Kannai) in 1870, when he was 30 years old.
The company imported photographic equipment, medical equipment, bicycles, etc. and exported plants such as peppermint and lily root as well as Japanese art and antiques.
As the map shows, the thermal power generation was also installed in 1887.




Cocking Company (above building drawing) is described in the Illustrated Japan Directory, "Nihon Eiri Shonin Roku" (published in 1886).
The 55th of the foreign settlement where the company was located is the red-lined circle in the "Yokohama Foreign Settlement Fire Insurance Map" (created in 1895) on the left.

Cocking House, Enoshima at the time of construction of the botanical garden (middle Meiji period)

In the mid-Meiji Enoshima period, there were no bridges across the island like there are now and the sandy beach was vast.
Since there are no Enoshima Sea Candles or Enoshima Yacht Harbor, it does not look like Enoshima at first glance but the Bronze Torii gate of Enoshima Shrine at the entrance to Enoshima and the townscape can still be seen in the current scenery.