Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo · Garden

In 1878 the statesman Yamagata Aritomo bought this camellia slope above the Kanda River and named it Chinzanso, 'villa on camellia hill'. Baron Fujita Heitaro took it over in 1918. In 1925 he brought in a three-storied pagoda built around 1420 at Chikurin-ji, a mountain temple near Higashi-Hiroshima, and the pagoda survived the air raid of 25 May 1945, which burned the mansion and most of the trees. Since 2020 a fine mist, the Tokyo Sea of Clouds (renewed in July 2026 as –YAKUMO–, with light and sound after dark), has drifted through the trees at set times each day so the pagoda seems to float. From mid-May through June, Genji fireflies glow along the stream, a tradition here since 1954. The garden is open to anyone staying, dining or taking tea at the hotel; on firefly evenings (after 6:30 pm) other visitors need an advance garden ticket. Edogawabashi Station is a 10-minute walk, and Mejiro Station is about 10 minutes away by Toei bus 61, or 7 by taxi.