Kiyosumi-teien

One of Tokyo's most picturesque retreats, Kiyosumi-teien started out in 1721 as the villa of a daimyō (domain lord; regional lord under the shoguns). After the villa was destroyed in the 1923 earthquake, Iwasaki Yatarō, founder of the Mitsubishi Corporation, purchased the property. Prized stones from all over Japan were transported here and set around a pond ringed with Japanese black pine, hydrangeas and Taiwanese cherry trees.