In a pond in the garden of Hotel New Otani, expensive looking Nishikigoi were swimming gracefully

Carp in the pond — Pond at Hotel New Otani

Walking through Sotobori Park from Yotsuya, I arrived at Kioi-zaka. Kioi is a rather unusual name. Kioi-zaka has an air of venerability about it, but it is hard to tell what it means. It sounds as if it has no meaning at all.

The reason why this slope, originally called Shimizu-zaka, came to be called Kioi-zaka is because the residences of the Kishu Tokugawa family stand on the south side of the slope and those of the Owari Tokugawa family and the Ii family of the Hikone domain on the north side. The official name Shimizu-zaka gradually fell into disuse as the name was changed to "Kioi-zaka" by taking one character each from "Ki" for the Kishu Tokugawa family, "O" for the Owari Tokugawa family, and "I" for the Ii family. It is difficult to understand, but once you know the name, it is quite easy to understand.

This is probably because the name Kioi-zaka is more appropriate for the location than the ubiquitous name Shimizu-zaka. The name Kioi-zaka used to be the name of a slope, but since the Meiji era, it has been adopted as the name of the surrounding towns.

From Sotobori Park, you cross Kioi-zaka, which used to be the middle residence of the Ii family of the Hikone domain. It is now the Hotel New Otani. The garden of the Ii family still remains even though it has been converted into the hotel grounds, and in the pond inside the garden, Nishikigoi carp were swimming gracefully.

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