Hotel Chinzanso TokyoGardens managed

Known as one of Japan's premium luxury hotels, Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo has a garden so expansive it has been called an "urban oasis."
This garden′s roots go back to 1878, when future Prime Minister Yamagata Aritomo created Chinzanso as his primary residence at the age of 40.
The Chinzanso Memorial he erected here still stands today and clearly indicates the extraordinary passion that Yamagata invested in this garden. There he wonders, "Will the person who lives here after me continue to protect its nature and enjoy its scenic beauty as I have?" In 1918, on the occasion of Yamagata's 80th birthday, Chinzanso was given to Baron Fujita Heitaro. Since Japan's recovery from World War II, it has been owned by Fujita Kanko, Inc.

Alongside other villas belonging to Yamagata such as Murin-an in Kyoto and Koki-an in Odawara, Chinzanso is considered to be one of the "Three Famous Yamagata Gardens." Take one step into any of these gardens and you can feel Yamagata's original taste all around you. Especially remarkable is the unique way their landscaping uses water; in other words, their "waterscaping." Chinzanso Garden also contains scenes making richly varied uses of underground water sources that are said to have left Baroness Fujita and other cultural connoisseurs of the period breathless.

The garden has many artworks remaining there from the Fujitas' art collection. The Hannya-ji Temple stone lantern is a classic example of the garden's stonework. In terms of architecture, there is the three-tier pagoda relocated from Takamurayama Chikurin-ji Temple and the Zangetsu teahouse, which was relocated here from the hotel Hakone Kowaki-en. Today both are nationally registered tangible cultural properties and are recognized as symbolically significant presences for Chinzanso.

In 2022, scenery restoration work began with the purpose of resurrecting the waterscape Yamagata so treasured. Work covered the "Ten Scenic Views" that Yamagata selected for his garden (including such areas as the Yusui Pond, Choshu Waterfall, Koko Well, and Unkin Pond) and a new set of "Twelve Scenic Views for the Reiwa Period" that includes the Gojo Waterfall designed by landscape architect Ito Kunie in 1983, the restaurant Kinsui's large waterfall, and each convergence point in the water network, which recent research indicates was very important for Yamagata.

Since then, Ueyakato Landscape has continued working toward improving the garden's quality based on its intrinsic value. In addition to performing additional scenic restoration for other areas, conducting a wide range of surveys, and creating "Guidelines for Garden Management," we also hold regular exchange meetings with gardeners at Chinzanso to raise each other's level of aesthetic awareness and technique. Our aim is to pass on Chinzanso's beautiful garden and the wishes of Yamagata and Fujita to future generations.