Former Iwasaki Residence Garden [Tokyo]

【summary】

It was built as the main residence of Hisaya Iwasaki, the eldest son of Yataro Iwasaki, the founder and first president of Mitsubishi, and the third president of Mitsubishi. The two-story Western-style wooden building with a basement was designed by Josiah Conder, an Englishman famous for designing the Rokumeikan, and is a National Important Cultural Property. (Mr. Josiah Condor was an English architect who loved Japan and married a Japanese woman.) Today, the site is one-third the size of the original building, and only the Western-style building, the billiards room, and the Japanese-style building remain.

【scenery】

Walking up the carriage road, you will arrive at the exotic-looking Iwasaki Residence. The exterior of the house is elegant yet powerful with a unique, exotic atmosphere. The delicate design, which is not found in many Western buildings built around the same time, gives the house an atmosphere as it was in bygone days.

The billiard room, designed by Condor, is a wooden building in the style of a Swiss hut, which was very rare in Japan at that time, and is connected to the Western-style building by an underground passageway.

The vast garden, which partly follows the style of the Daimyo garden, is considered to be a combination of Japanese and Western style as well as architectural style, and retains the early form of a modern garden with a “lawn garden”.

【precincts】

The interior of the building, which seems to have had the purpose of hosting important guests like a guest house, seems to be in the cutting-edge style of the 29th year of Meiji era, and is a reminder of that era and culture. Gorgeous western-style building designed by Condor. The wallpaper and ceilings are meticulously detailed, every single thing is beautiful and gorgeous. The furniture, heaters, and lighting were also well designed.

The Japanese-style building is the residence of the Iwasaki family, and although it has shrunk in size, the wide tatami corridors, ship-bottomed ceilings, large alcove, and sliding door paintings are all ingenious ways to maintain the atmosphere of the time when European-style Western-style buildings were built in tandem with the modernization of Japan. A café is also open in the Japanese-style building, where visitors can take a break while enjoying the view of the garden.

【Nearby attractions】

2023年12月3日 Shinobazunoike Benteng-do [Tokyo]

2023年11月12日 Ueno Toshogu Shrine【Tokyo】

2023年11月17日 Yushima Tenmangu Shrine [Tokyo]

【Access】