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Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo seen across the garden pond in spring

Photo: Zengame · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Dokumo × Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo

The Chinzanso Collection

A garden hotel in the middle of Tokyo, on the estate a Meiji statesman laid out in 1878. Stay here, play Segovia and a Mt. Fuji-view course with a private driver, and come back to tea in the garden.

See our Chinzanso trips Ask for a quote
1878
Yamagata Aritomo's estate garden
c. 1420
timbers of the three-storied pagoda
≈ 85,000 ㎡
of grounds — nearly twice Tokyo Dome
45–280 ㎡
rooms and suites

Why we chose it

The quietest address in central Tokyo

Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo sits on a wooded hill in Bunkyo, about 25 minutes by taxi from Tokyo Station. Step out of the lobby and you are in a strolling garden of ponds, a waterfall, stone lanterns and a three-storied pagoda — a garden that has been a Tokyo landmark for well over a century.

For golfers it works as a base: our driver-guide collects you at the door on golf days, and on the evenings in between you have mist rolling through the garden, kaiseki in a lakeside house and an onsen fed with water from Izu — without leaving the hotel.

The three-storied pagoda among cherry blossoms

Photo: Guilhem Vellut from Annecy, France · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

In 3D

Walk the garden in 3D

Turn the garden around, switch between day and night, roll in the sea of clouds and change the season. Tap a marker to fly there and see the real place in a photograph — or take the photo tour.

Loading the 3D garden…

Places in the garden

  1. 1. Three-storied pagoda
  2. 2. Garden waterfall
  3. 3. The pond · TOKYO MOON
  4. 4. Ryotei Kinsui
  5. 5. Mokushundo
  6. 6. Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo
  7. 7. YU, THE SPA
  8. 8. Rakan stones

An illustrated model by Dokumo — positions and scale are approximate, not a map.

The hotel building above the garden lawn in winter

Photo: Guilhem Vellut from Annecy, France · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The hotel

Rooms over the garden

Rooms start at 45 ㎡ and look over the garden or the city. Dokumo's Chinzanso trips use the Prime Superior room, two to a room, with breakfast; larger rooms and suites can be quoted on request.

Prime Superior
45 ㎡
Garden or city view; versions with a view bath or a cypress bath. The room our trips use.
Prime Deluxe
55–64 ㎡
City or garden view, including a twin with a tatami corner and a triple.
Garden & Japanese suites
83–138 ㎡
Deluxe and Premier Garden Suites, the Japanese Suite, the Hideaway Garden Suite and the View Bath Suite.
Signature suites
138–280 ㎡
Ambassador, Presidential, Royal and Imperial Suites.

Suite guests use the Executive Lounge — light meals and a terrace looking over the garden.

The garden

Six centuries on one hillside

Wild camellias gave the hill its old name, Tsubaki-yama. The garden you walk today was laid out for Yamagata Aritomo, replanted after the war and has been open to hotel guests ever since.

  1. 14th c.

    Wild camellias cover the hill — locals call it Tsubaki-yama, “camellia hill”.

  2. Edo era

    A villa of the Kuroda lords of Kururi. The poet Matsuo Bashō lives next door for about four years, and Hiroshige paints the area in One Hundred Famous Views of Edo.

  3. 1878

    Statesman Yamagata Aritomo buys the land, builds his residence and names it Chinzanso; the gardener Iwamoto Katsugorō lays out the garden.

  4. 1918

    The estate passes to Fujita Heitarō, who keeps it as Yamagata left it.

  5. 1925

    A three-storied pagoda is moved here from Chikurin-ji temple in Hiroshima. Tree-ring dating later placed its timbers around 1420; it is a registered tangible cultural property and survived the war.

  6. 1945–1952

    Air raids destroy much of the estate. More than 10,000 trees are replanted, and Chinzanso reopens in 1952 as a garden restaurant.

  7. 1992

    Four Seasons Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo opens; since 2013 it has been Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo.

Cherry blossoms over a pond in the Chinzanso garden

Photo: Guilhem Vellut from Annecy, France · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The garden waterfall in autumn

Photo: Irina Gelbukh · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The pagoda with rope-supported winter pines

Photo: Nullumayulife · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Spring
Camellias, then cherry blossoms around the pagoda and the ponds.
Early summer
Fresh green, and Genji fireflies from mid-May.
Autumn
Maples around the waterfall.
Winter
Rope-supported pines (yukitsuri) and winter camellias.
The three-storied pagoda lit up at night

Photo: nesnad · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

After dark

A sea of clouds in the city

Since 2020 the garden has made its own fog: the Tokyo Sea of Clouds drifts between the trees and over the pond at set times through the day, and after dark it becomes a show of light and sound.

Tokyo Sea of Clouds
Mist rolls through the garden several times a day, roughly between 9:00 and 22:00 (times change by season).
Great Sea of Clouds
A longer version of about eight minutes, in the morning and at night.
–YAKUMO–
Since July 2026: a night show of about three minutes with layered mist, light and sound.
TOKYO MOON
A three-metre moon projected onto the mist above the pond in the evening programme.
Fireflies
Genji fireflies from mid-May, best after about 7:30 pm. The garden has held firefly evenings since 1954.

The garden is open to guests using the hotel. Paths can be slippery early in the morning and late at night.

Dining

Eight places to eat and drink

Several of the Japanese restaurants are inside the garden itself, in old houses and lakeside pavilions. Our team can reserve any of them for your free evenings.

Japanese-style buildings in the Chinzanso garden

Photo: Guilhem Vellut from Annecy, France · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Kaiseki

Ryotei Kinsui 錦水

Seasonal kaiseki in a Sukiya-style house with a lake view; private rooms only. Lunch and dinner.

Stone-grilled

Mokushundo 木春堂

A renovated old house in a quiet corner of the garden; meat and vegetables grilled on stone at your table.

Japanese

Miyuki みゆき

Kaiseki rooms plus sushi and teppanyaki counters. Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Eel

UNAKIKU

Edo-style eel from Kikusuiro, a house founded in 1893, hidden in the garden.

Italian

Il Teatro

Italian cooking under Venetian chandeliers. Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

All-day

The Bistro

A relaxed room over the garden, from light snacks to full courses.

Lobby lounge

Le Jardin

Garden-view lounge known for English-style afternoon tea, and cocktails by candlelight in the evening.

Bar

Le Marquis

Mahogany bar for whisky, wine, cocktails and cigars.

Spa

YU, THE SPA

A hot spring with water brought from Itō on the Izu Peninsula, and a warm pool under a roof that opens to the sky.

The hotel lists a facility fee for the pool, hot spring and gym (¥5,500 per adult per 24 hours at the time of writing). Tell the Dokumo team and we will confirm what your stay includes.

Hot spring
Onsen water from Itō, Izu
Pool
All-weather warm pool with a retractable roof
Also
Sauna, jet bath, 24-hour gym
Treatments
L'OCCITANE spa and a Guerlain salon
Hours
6:00–22:00 (last entry 21:30); treatments 10:00–21:15
Children
Ages 4–12 until 18:00 with a guardian; under 4 not admitted

Experiences

Between the rounds

Days off the course can stay in the garden or go out into old Tokyo — booked through the hotel's concierge or by the Dokumo team.

Stone rakan figures in the garden

Photo: Guilhem Vellut from Annecy, France · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

At the hotel

  • Tea ceremony

    In the garden's historic tea houses, weekdays 13:00–17:00, about an hour, in English, Chinese or Japanese. Book at least 10 days ahead; from ¥90,000 per group of 1–3.

  • Garden walk

    The pagoda, the rakan stone figures and the waterfall — about an hour at an easy pace, or with the hotel's guided garden tour.

  • Firefly evenings

    Mid-May into June, after dark.

  • Anniversary photos

    A photography plan in the garden for couples and families.

Out in Tokyo (for staying guests)

Noh theatre · 2 hZen meditation · 1.5 hMeet a geishaKumihimo braiding · 2 hEdo kiriko glass · 1.5 hWoodblock printing · 2 hLocal walking tour · 2 hIzakaya hopping · 2 h

Booked 1–3 days ahead; prices on request.

Getting there

Bunkyo, central Tokyo

2-10-8 Sekiguchi, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 112-8680

Hotel's official website
Edogawabashi Station
About 10 minutes on foot (Tokyo Metro Yurakucho Line).
Tokyo Station / Ginza
About 25 minutes by taxi.
Haneda Airport
About 60 minutes by airport limousine bus.
Narita Airport
About 90 minutes by airport limousine bus.
Golf days
Our driver-guide collects you at the hotel — Segovia Golf Club and Jurigi with its Mt. Fuji view.

Dokumo trips

Stay at Chinzanso with Dokumo

Two ready-made stays: two nights with a round at Segovia, or four nights with Segovia, a Mt. Fuji-view round at Jurigi and a free day in Tokyo. Both include the Prime Superior room with breakfast and a private driver-guide on golf days, priced per person for a party of four.

How it works

  1. 1Pick the 2-night or the 4-night stay and your dates.
  2. 2We confirm the room and the tee times, and send your invoice.
  3. 3On golf days your driver-guide meets you in the lobby; the rest of the time the garden is yours.

Want more nights, a suite, other courses or a tea ceremony? Ask for a quote and the Dokumo team will build it around Chinzanso.

Ask for a Chinzanso quote

Facilities, hours and prices are taken from Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo's public information (October 2026) and can change; the Dokumo team confirms them when you book. Dokumo is a travel company that sells stays at the hotel — this is not the hotel's own website.