the construction of the park took place between 1695 and 1702, and was headed by yanagisawa yoshiyasu by permission of the fifth tokugawa shōgun tokugawa tsunayoshi. it is a typical example of a daimyo garden from the edo period. after the death of yanagisawa, it was neglected. the founder of mitsubishi, iwasaki yatarō, bought the garden in 1878 and began to restore it. this was continued by his younger brother and successor, iwasaki yanosuke. the garden today is about one-third of its original size. in 1938, it was donated to the tokyo city government. it was specified as a by the japanese government in 1953.