Kiyosumi Gardens

Kiyosumi Gardens began as the country retreat of a provincial daimyo during the Edo period, on land once belonging to the wealthy merchant Kii no Kokuya Bunzaemon. The estate had fallen into disrepair by 1878, when Iwasaki Yataro, founder of the Mitsubishi conglomerate, bought the site and commissioned a new stroll garden -- completed in 1880 as the Fukagawa Shinboku Garden -- intended as a recreational space for Mitsubishi employees and a venue for entertaining dignitaries. Work continued after Yataro's death, with ornamental stones gathered from quarries across Japan -- Izu, Iyo, Kii, Ikoma, Sado and Sanuki are all represented by name -- set along the garden's paths and its signature isowatari stepping-stone crossing at the pond's edge. The pond itself once drew tidal water directly from the Sumida River, shifting through the day before the connection was cut and rainwater took over. The Ryotei, a sukiya-style teahouse built out over the water in 1909 to receive British Field Marshal Kitchener, survived both the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake and wartime bombing and still stands. That earthquake became a turning point for the garden's public life: it sheltered large numbers of evacuees, and in gratitude the Iwasaki family donated the eastern half to the city of Tokyo in 1924, which opened it to the public in 1932. The garden was designated a national Place of Scenic Beauty in 1977.