Kiyosumi Garden

Water-worn boulders were brought in from all over Japan, to give the garden its character; hills and dry waterfalls were constructed with them and two sequences of them form stepping-stones (isowatari) across small inlets of the lake, which almost completely fills the garden, allowing a pathway of many picturesque episodes around its perimeter.

In fact only a narrow band of perimeter planting screens the garden from the structures along Kiyosumi Dori.

In the Kyōhō era (1716–1736), it became the location of the Edo residence of the feudal lord Kuze Yamatonokami, of Sekiyamo, who built his mansion here in 1721[3] and this is the period when the basic form of the garden came into existence.

[4] In 1932, Mitsubishi group contributed this garden to Tokyo City and after some repair works it was opened to the public in 1932.

Purple azaleas, Hydrangea macrophylla, Iris ensata and Taiwan cherry (Prunus campanulata) provide seasonal color.

The Iwasaki family collected fine and beautiful stones from all over Japan, brought to Tokyo on their steamships and placed around the garden.