The garden began as a
chashitsu for the
Japanese tea ceremony built around 1636 by
Hosokawa Tadatoshi, the first
daimyō of Kumamoto, on the grounds of the
Zen temple of Suizen-ji. Hosokawa selected this site because of its spring-fed pond, the clean water of which was excellent for tea. A monk named Gentaku was part of the retinue of Hosokawa Tadatoshi when he entered
Higo Province, and he was given this land with a natural spring of water from
Mount Aso to construct a temple; however the temple was abandoned around after Gentaku returned to his native
Bungo Province and its land reverted to Kumamoto Domain. During the tenure of Hosokawa Tsunatoshi, the garden was reconstructed into a "strolling garden" with pathways and its artificial hill. It was named "Seishu-en" around this time, after a line from a poem by
Tao Yuanming. Follwong the
Meiji restoration, the garden became property of the central government, but the tea house was burned down and the garden laid waste by the 1877
Satsuma rebellion. A group of former retainers of Kumamoto Domain purchased the ruins, and erected a
Shinto shrine, the Izumi Shrine, which was dedicated to the spirits of the Hosokawa clan. The thatched
Kokin-Denju-no-Ma teahouse now on the site was originally a structure in
Kyoto Imperial Palace, and was relocated here in 1912. ==Suizenji Park==