Yataro, who had loved stones since a child, used his company’s steamship to collect famous stones from all over Japan and transported them to the garden from the Sumida River. He probably acquired this riverside location for the convenience of landscaping the garden. Because the water was drawn from the Sumida River, the pond used to be tidal, and sunken stepping stones can be seen at the bottom of the water near the shore.

Because of its location near the ocean and rivers, the area is home to a variety of fauna, such as carp, turtles, and wild birds.
According to Atsuko Shigeno, the center’s director, many visitors come to the park for bird watching.
“We can get close to the water’s edge, so we can see carp swimming and turtles drying their shells up close. The variety of birds changes with the seasons, but there are always gray herons.”
I was also surprised when I saw a great cormorant. It is not often that we get a chance to see large birds in Tokyo.

Kiyosumi Gardens is a kaiyu shiki rinsen teien garden where visitors can stroll around the pond and enjoy its natural features, especially the landscaping. The harmony of pine trees and stones is the focus, accented by the colors of the flowers.
The tallest tsukiyama hill was made to look like Mount Fuji, and its summit is covered with lava rock today. During Yanosuke’s reign, guests were treated to a boat ride to view the garden from the pond and a climb up the mountain for a panoramic view of the garden.

At the foot of Mount Fuji, a Kare-taki dry waterfall is created by combining blue stones with white streaks and small boulders. When I first visited Kiyosumi Gardens, I wondered why there were stones on top of stones. This is because the boulders represent a flowing river and the large rocks represent a waterfall.
According to Naoo Inoue, deputy director of the center, every few years all the boulders at the Kare-taki are collected, polished with a scrubbing brush, and reinstalled. The staff members’ efforts are what maintain this beautiful landscape.

The remainder of the gardens was to be donated to the city of Tokyo. But the Great Kanto Earthquake struck in 1923. Although the Ryotei was destroyed by fire, the trees in the gardens acted as a firebreak and prevented it from spreading, saving the lives of some 10,000 evacuees.
Although the stonework of the gardens’ prized stones collapsed, the damage was not serious.
Hisaya was reluctant to open the gardens to the public after seeing it burnt to the ground. However, Kiyoshi Inoshita, then head of the parks department of the city of Tokyo, worked tirelessly to restore the gardens, believing that it should be preserved for future generations.
Thanks to these efforts, the east side, with a total area of 37,434.32 square meters, which was less damaged, was opened as Kiyosumi Gardens in 1932. The west side became Kiyosumi Park in 1977.

As I walked around the park, I noticed that the trees were short. When asked why, I was told that the they were maintained with the primary goal of preserving the existing landscape and passing it on to future generations.
Deputy Director Inoue said, “There were some large pine trees in the old photos, but I think that similar pine trees were not available after the earthquake. Afterwards, the city of Tokyo must have taken over the grand design of the Iwasaki family at that time, but restored the area along realistic lines.”
In the second part of this article, we will look at some of best stones that Yataro carefully selected.

＞＞Continue to Part 2

Japanese original text: Yasuna Asano
Translation: Kae Shigeno