The bamboo known in Japan as moso originally comes from southern China and is also called Jiangnan bamboo. At Sengan-en, this grove began when Shimazu Yoshitaka, the 21st head of the Shimazu family, brought two bamboo shrubs from China via the Ryukyu Kingdom and planted them here.

Because of its Chinese origin, the area became known as the Jiangnan Bamboo Grove. The bamboo later spread from Satsuma to Kyoto, Edo, and eventually across Japan, along with the custom of eating bamboo shoots.