Tonogayato Garden is located in Kokubunji, about 25 km from Tokyo Station. The garden is now owned by the Tokyo Metropolitan Parks Department but was originally owned by the Iwasaki family, of Mitsubishi fame.
The Iwasaki family, especially Yataro Iwasaki (1835-1885), the founder of Mitsubishi, was very interested in gardening. It was Yataro who bought Rikugien and Kiyosumi gardens when they were in a state of disrepair after the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate, and spared no efforts to restore these former daimyo gardens back almost to their former glory.
In 1929 the Iwasaki family purchased a little over 2 hectares here in Kokubunji for a summer retreat. At the time Kokubunji was still far enough from the city to have kept a country atmosphere.