Tottori Domain Ikeda Clan Cemetery

The Tottori Domain Ikeda Clan Cemetery in Kokufu-cho is the burial ground of successive lords of the Ikeda family, who governed Tottori Domain from 1632, when Ikeda Mitsunaka was transferred to Tottori from Okayama, through the end of the Edo period in 1868. The cemetery contains a series of mausoleums and memorial stones commemorating individual domain lords, laid out according to Edo-period conventions for daimyo burial grounds, with the grave markers arranged to reflect generational succession within the clan. Construction and expansion of the site occurred incrementally over more than two centuries as each successive lord was interred, giving the grounds a layered character that documents the domain's leadership across the Edo period. The stonework includes carved memorial towers (hoto and gorinto forms common to Edo-period samurai burial practice) and low retaining walls that terrace the hillside site. Unlike a purpose-built museum, the cemetery has no curated exhibit space; its historical content is read directly from the inscriptions and dates on the memorial stones themselves, which together form a physical genealogy of the domain's ruling family. The site is maintained as a quiet, wooded memorial ground rather than a tourist attraction, and interior sections beyond the perimeter path require advance arrangement out of respect for its function as an active family burial site.