[2] For over six centuries, the land surrounding Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo has been home to wild camellias.

It was featured in a wood block print by the ukiyoe artist Ando Hiroshige (1797-1858).

The current name of the garden "Chinzanso" was given by Yamagata Aritomo (1838-1922), an influential member of a group of elderly statesmen known as the Genrō in the Meiji (1868-1912) and Taishō (1912–26) eras.

Though the garden was destroyed during World War II, reconstruction began in 1948 under the direction of Ogawa Eiichi, the founder of the company now known as Fujita Kankō, whose vision of "building a green oasis in Tokyo" included the transportation of more than 10,000 trees.

On November 11, 1952, a grand opening ceremony for the new Chinzanso garden and reception center took place.