In the 1600s, Matsuo Bashō, a renowned haiku poet of the Edo period, lived in a hut overlooking this property for four years.

Records say that the Emperor Meiji held a number of important conferences with his high-ranking dignitaries at the "House of Camellia".

When the property passed on to Baron Heitaro Fujita, he decorated the grounds with historical monuments from all over Japan, especially Kyoto and Toba.

Other cultural treasures scattered throughout the site include carved Taoist and Buddhist images and over thirty stone lanterns.

A large pond, waterfall, and natural spring are also part of the garden, as is a 500-year-old sacred tree that measures 4.5 m around its base.