Teien Art Museum

photo by Wiiii · CC BY-SA 3.0

In Prince Asaka's former Art Deco residence (1933), the garden alone costs 200 yen.

The museum occupies the former residence of Prince Asaka Yasuhiko, completed in 1933 in Art Deco style with the collaboration of French artists, including glasswork by René Lalique. Three separate gardens (English, Japanese with a teahouse, and Western) can be visited even without going into the building, with a separate 200 yen ticket. Many windows are kept with their curtains closed to protect the furnishings from light, and photography is not allowed in many rooms.

The residence was built for Prince Asaka Yasuhiko and his wife, Princess Nobuko, eighth daughter of Emperor Meiji: the construction, directed by engineers of the Imperial Household Ministry, entrusted the interiors of the main rooms to the French designer Henri Rapin, who followed the work by correspondence without ever coming to Japan. The building was completed in 1933; after the war it passed through various uses (including official residence of the prime minister) before opening as a museum in 1983. In July 2015 the main building, the teahouse, the storehouse, the garage and the entrance gate were designated 重要文化財 (jūyō bunkazai), the highest level of protection for cultural properties after National Treasures.

ℹ️ Museum 10:00–18:00, entry until 17:30; garden 10:00–18:00 from April to September, 10:00–16:30 from October to March; closed on Mondays (open if a holiday, closed on the following weekday) and at the end/start of the year. Garden only: 200 yen (160 for groups), 100 for high school students and over-65s; exhibitions have their own ticket, for example 1,400 yen. Photography is not allowed in many rooms.

🚉 Shirokanedai · 10 min walk

Sources: teien-art-museum.ne.jp · teien-art-museum.ne.jp · ja.wikipedia.org

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