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 shōguns). After the villa was destroyed in the 1923 earthquake, Iwasaki Yatarō, founder of the Mitsubishi Corporation, purchased the property. He used company ships to transport prize stones here from all over Japan, which are set around a pond ringed with Japanese black pine, hydrangeas and Taiwanese cherry trees.
