CamelliaTraditional garden plants

Camellia are native to Japan (Honshu and islands further south). Along coasts, one can find common Japanese Camellia, while in areas which experience snowfall one can see the snow Camellia. The seeds (for Camellia oil) and other parts were used as part of everyday life by the people of the Jomon period over 2,300 years ago. The flowers themselves were a favorite of the nobility and it is recorded in the Nihon Shoki that Camellia were presented to Emperor Tenmu in 685. From the Muromachi period onward (1338~), the samurai came to notice the flower’s beauty and Camellia began to be used in gardens, flower arranging, and the tea ceremony, leading to further refinement as a garden plant.

In the Edo period, three successive generations of the Tokugawa shogun family, starting with the mighty Tokugawa Ieyasu, held a great love of flowers. Tokugawa Hidetada, the second generation of the Tokugawa family to accede to the title of shogun, was particularly fond of Camellias. This interest spread among the feudal lords, leading to the Kan’ei era boom in Camellia's in 1624. In addition, in the latter half of the Edo period, various plant hunters as well as German botanist Philipp Franz von Siebold were introduced to the plant, resulting in a Japanese Camellia boom in Europe as the "winter rose" around 1830.

Those interested can view 260 varieties of Camellia at Jindai Botanical Garden's Camellia garden from autumn to spring. A pamphlet on Camellias is distributed at service center windows during the period when Camellia may be viewed. (For details on flowering periods, please contact Jindai Botanical Gardens.)