It is a stroll garden with grove and pond, and it optimizes abundant natural surroundings such as the slope in the south of the Kokubunji cliff line, a spring on the edge of the cliff line and a growth of miscellaneous trees on the slope. The “Jiro Benten” pond inside the garden is also selected as one of the Famous 57 Springs in Tokyo. It was designated as a National Place of Scenic Beauty in 2011.
cultural property : historic sites and places of scenic beauty as natural monuments
type : places of scenic beauty
2-16 Minamichō, Kokubunji-shi, Tōkyō-to 185-0021
Tel：042-324-7991
Home page : https://www.tokyo-park.or.jp/park/tonogayato/index.html
There is a terrace cliff on the southern edge of the Musashino Plateau, which runs from east to west, called “Kokubunji Gaisen.” Small valleys carve the terrace here and there and spring water seeps out from gravel around the bottom of the cliff line, which is called “Hake”. The Tonogayato garden was built in a modern villa. It uses the landform of the cliff line, the springs, and tasteful growth of miscellaneous trees such as Japanese red pines (Pinus densiflora) and sawtooth oaks (Quercus acutissima), which are native to Musashino. The premises are on the east side of the plateau which extends towards the south. It covers the area from the flat ground on top of the plateau to the area with springs in the lowland, and there is a sloping ground along the cliff in the middle with an elevation difference of more than 10 meters.
There are four areas in this garden: a Western garden with a large open grass field on top of the plateau located in the southeast of the main building and a carriage drive that connects the gate to a roundabout in front of the entrance which is in the west of the main building; forests of Japanese red pines, Japanese maples and bamboos; a sloping ground along the cliff covered with Veitch’s bamboos (Sasa veitchii); and a Japanese garden centered around the Jiro Benten pond which uses the water from the spring at the bottom of the cliff. They are all connected with paths, stone steps and Nobedan pavements, etc.