Arisukan (Former Arisugawa-no-miya Residence)

A princely residence turned judge's lodging

Arisukan (Former Arisugawa-no-miya Residence, 有栖館・有栖川宮旧邸) is a Meiji-era residential compound at the northwest corner of the Karasuma-dori and Shimodachiuri-dori intersection in Kamigyo Ward, Kyoto; its main house, moved here in 1891, and two gates were registered together as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on February 23, 2012. The site faces the western edge of the Kyoto Imperial Park across Karasuma-dori.

The Arisugawa-no-miya ranked among the four shinnōke, the princely houses of the imperial family. It was founded in 1625 by Prince Yoshihito, seventh son of Emperor Go-Yozei, and for a time its Kyoto mansion stood directly in front of the Kenreimon, the southern gate of the Imperial Palace.

After the Meiji Restoration the building was turned over to the courts as a temporary courthouse. In 1891 part of it was dismantled and rebuilt on this plot, then privately owned, where it served as the official residence of the chief judge of the Kyoto District Court until 2007. A house built for a prince spent the next 116 years lodging judges.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates the main house to the early Meiji period (1868 to 1882) and records the 1891 relocation and remodelling. Its commentary describes the building as a Meiji official residence that keeps the look of a court noble's house. How much of the present structure goes back to the palace-front mansion is not settled by that record.

Sixteen years with Heian Jogakuin, and the 2024 sale

In August 2008 the property was acquired by Heian Jogakuin, the Anglican girls' school whose campus lies just across Shimodachiuri-dori, and renamed Arisukan. The school used it for classes and public courses in Japanese culture, and in 2009 Ogawa Jihei XI, heir to the Ueji line of Kyoto garden makers, laid out new front, central and south gardens.

The three buildings were registered in 2012, during the school's ownership, which is why their official names still begin with "Heian Jogakuin." Under the school, Arisukan opened to visitors for a few days each spring and autumn; its last confirmed opening was a free viewing in March 2024 marking the school's 150th anniversary.

On May 31, 2024, Mori Trust announced that it had bought the land and buildings, a site of 2,148 square metres, and that it was studying how to conserve and use them in keeping with Kyoto's townscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database lists the owner as Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation, and this site follows that record.

How the compound is laid out

The plot is bounded by Karasuma-dori on the east and Shimodachiuri-dori on the south. The Seitenmon, the formal front gate, opens onto Karasuma-dori; the Nagayamon, a gatehouse with rooms built into it, runs along Shimodachiuri-dori. The main house stands inside, arranged as three wings (entrance, reception and living quarters) joined by corridors around a courtyard garden.

The easiest way to see the exteriors is to start at the Karasuma-Shimodachiuri intersection. Walk a few steps north along Karasuma-dori and the Seitenmon appears opposite the trees of the Imperial Park: a curved-roof gate of 1912 that was moved twice before it settled here.

Back at the corner, head west along Shimodachiuri-dori. The white plaster front of the Nagayamon, with its projecting lattice window, lines the pavement, while across the street stands the red brick of St. Agnes' Church. The main house itself sits behind the gates and walls and cannot be seen as a whole from outside.

Visiting and getting there

As of September 2026 Arisukan is closed to the public. The March 2024 opening by Heian Jogakuin is the last one we could confirm, and no public viewing has been announced since the sale. Both gates face public streets, so their exteriors can be seen at any time, although the gates themselves are normally shut.

The nearest station is Marutamachi on the Kyoto Municipal Subway Karasuma Line. Take Exit 2 and walk north along Karasuma-dori beside the Imperial Park for about 5 minutes to the Shimodachiuri-dori intersection. The Karasuma Shimodachiuri city bus stop is right at the corner.

The gates front narrow city pavements, so if you stop to take photographs, choose a spot that leaves room for passers-by.