is a traditional Japanese garden located in

Kokubunji, Tokyo file:Kondoato.JPG, 250px, Ruins of Musashi Kokubun-ji temple is a Cities of Japan, city located in the western portion of Tokyo Metropolis, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 126,791, and a population density of 11,000 persons per km ...

. Its name comes from the region's old name, Tonogayato, Kokubunji village. The garden covers an area of .

History

The garden was laid out between 1913 and 1915 in the grounds of a villa built for Eguchi Teijo, the vice-president of the

Manchurian Railway The Chinese Eastern Railway or CER (, russian: Китайско-Восточная железная дорога, or , ''Kitaysko-Vostochnaya Zheleznaya Doroga'' or ''KVZhD''), is the historical name for a railway system in Northeast China (als ...

, who was a senior director of the

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

group. In 1929, the garden was purchased by the founder of Mitsubishi, Iwasaki Yatarō, who completed it as a circular style garden with a tea house. It was used as a villa for the Iwasaki Family. In response to a plan to develop the area for other uses, local residents started a campaign to preserve the garden. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government eventually purchased it in 1974 and opened it to the public in 1979. In 1998, the Tonogayato Garden was designated as a

Place of Scenic Beauty is a collective term used by the Japanese government's Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties to denote Cultural Properties of JapanIn this article, capitals indicate an official designation as opposed to a simple definition, e.g "Cultural ...

by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

Features

The garden is centered on a pond and uses the natural terrain of the

Musashino Plateau The , also translated as Musashino Platform and also named as Musashino Region, is a large tableland (known as a fluvial terrace) in the Kantō region of Honshu, Japan. The Musashino Plateau is a plateau that extends between the Arakawa and Tama R ...

by incorporating the valleys found in the terrace cliffs into its design. The highlight is the strikingly different types of landscape: a scenic spacious lawn on the top, steep slopes, a pond with waterfalls and bamboo forest at the bottom. There is a depression in the pond containing a natural spring called Jiro Benten that provides large quantities of fresh water. Water that runs off the cliff is a part of the source of the Nogawa River. A tea house called Koyo-tei is also situated in the gardens. A wide variety of flora and fauna can be found in the garden, including a variety of plants that flower through the course of the year: ''Shibateranthis pinnatifida'' (a synonym for ''

Eranthis pinnatifida ''Eranthis'' is a genus of eight species of flowering plants in the buttercup family Ranunculaceae, native to southern Europe and east across Asia to Japan. The common name winter aconite comes from the early flowering time and the resemblance of ...

''), dogtooth violet,

cypripedium japonicum ''Cypripedium japonicum'', known as the Japanese cypripedium and Korean lady's slipper, is a species of orchid. It is native to Japan, Korea and China (Anhui, Gansu, Guizhou, Hubei, Hunan, Jiangxi, Shaanxi, Sichuan, Zhejiang). References Exter ...

cephalanthera erecta ''Cephalanthera erecta'' , the erect cephalanthera (Japanese: ''gin-ran'', the "silver orchid", and Chinese: ''yin lan''), is a species of terrestrial orchid. It is found in China, Japan, Korea, Kuril Islands, Bhutan, Assam and eastern Himalayas. ...

, bellflowers, fragrant goldband lily,

false anemone ''Anemonopsis'', the false anemone, is a monotypic genus in the family Ranunculaceae, containing only the species ''Anemonopsis macrophylla'', endemic to Japan's main island of Honshu. The generic name ''Anemonopsis'' refers to it being ''Ane ...

, orange spider lily and toad lilies. Japanese ternstroemias are the most prevalent species of tree in the gardens, due to Koyata Iwasaki's fondness for the tree. The garden is a 2-minute walk from Kokubunji Station on the JR Chūō Line, Seibu Kokubunji Line, and Seibu Tamako Line. File:Tonogayato5.jpg, Bamboo forest File:Tonogayato10.jpg, Spacious lawn File:Tonogayato3.jpg, Tea house File:Tonogayato2.jpg, Waterfall

References

External links

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Tokyo Metropolitan Park Association
{{Authority control Gardens in Tokyo Kokubunji, Tokyo Parks and gardens in Tokyo