An Art Deco House Built for a Prince in 1933
The Former Residence of Prince Asaka (旧朝香宮邸, Kyū Asaka no Miya Tei, also written Kyu-Asaka-no-miya-tei) is a house in Shirokanedai, Minato City, Tokyo, completed in 1933 and designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan on 8 July 2015.
Prince Asaka Yasuhiko (1887-1981) travelled to France in 1922 to study military science. A road accident kept him there far longer than planned, and Princess Nobuko crossed over to nurse him. The couple did not come home until 1925. Those three years fell squarely across the peak of Art Deco in Paris, and they visited the 1925 international exposition of decorative and industrial arts that gave the style its name.
What they commissioned on their return was an unusual arrangement even by the standards of the day. Interior design for the principal rooms went to the French decorative artist Henri Rapin. The building itself came from the Works Section of the Imperial Household Ministry's Bureau of Construction and Repairs, with the engineer Gondō Yōkichi in charge. Rapin never set foot in Japan. Neither did René Lalique, who supplied the glass. Drawings, letters and finished components crossed the sea by ship, and Japanese craftsmen worked from instructions written in a language most of them could not read.
The Asaka family lived here until they left the imperial house in 1947. The building was afterwards used as an official residence for Yoshida Shigeru during his terms as foreign minister and prime minister, and then as a state guest house at Shirokane. Tokyo opened it as the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum in 1983 and listed it as a metropolitan tangible cultural property in 1993, twenty-two years before the national designation followed.
Five Structures Under One Designation Number
The 2015 designation carries the number 2626 and covers five separate structures, not the main house alone. The Agency for Cultural Affairs cites a single criterion for all of them: excellence of design.
The main building is reinforced concrete with a footprint of 1,214.60 square metres, two storeys with a partial third floor and a partial basement, and an attached chimney. The teahouse, put up in 1936, is timber at 83.27 square metres, roofed in pantiles with sections of wood shingle. The storehouse of 1933 is reinforced concrete over two floors, 118.30 square metres. The garage of the same year is reinforced concrete at 97.50 square metres with a washing bay attached. The main gate is counted as one structure rather than one building: 5.0 metres between the gate pillars, side gates east and west with iron leaves, and flanking walls running 6.4 metres to the east and 13.1 metres to the west.
Set those figures beside each other and the logic of the designation comes into focus. Building a garage and a car-washing bay in reinforced concrete in 1933 was a considerable expense, and the survival of both records how a household at the very top of Japanese society actually ran day to day.
The Agency's assessment turns on a contrast. Outside, ornament is refused almost entirely. Inside, glass reliefs, light fittings, wall paintings and sculpture fill the principal rooms with the newest French art of the moment, pulled together into a dense and disciplined Art Deco scheme. The Agency calls the house one of the high points of residential architecture produced by the Imperial Household Ministry, and notes that the wider group of buildings and the gardens are preserved along with it.
What Rewards a Slow Walk Through
Begin at the front door. The glass relief panels were made by René Lalique for this house and no other. Design drawings held by the museum show the female figures originally unclothed and altered to clothed at the request of the Japanese side, and that correction is now part of what the doors record.
Past the great hall lies the tsugi-no-ma, the small linking room before the grand drawing room, and at its centre is the object most visitors remember. Henri Rapin designed the Perfume Tower in 1932; it was produced at the Sèvres national porcelain manufactory and presented to the Asaka family by the French Navy. Scent was placed inside the upper light fitting and the warmth of the lamp carried it through the room. The name came later. Around it sit a black-lacquered column, walls of orange artificial stone, a floor laid in fine natural stone pieces, and a shallow white plaster dome overhead.
Lalique also supplied the chandelier known as Bucharest for the grand drawing room and Pineapples and Pomegranates for the dining room. On the third floor is the Winter Garden, a chequered black and white room opened only during certain exhibitions.
The teahouse in the Japanese garden dates from 1936, three years after the house. The garden and teahouse area keeps shorter hours than the galleries, 10:00 to 16:30, and between October and March some paths through the Japanese garden also close at 16:30 for safety.
A few practical matters are best settled before you arrive. The museum opens 10:00 to 18:00 with last admission at 17:30, and closes on Mondays; when a Monday is a public holiday it opens and shuts the following day instead. During exhibition changeover periods only the garden is open and the main building cannot be entered, so check the museum calendar if the interior is your reason for coming. Photography is permitted in the gardens and of the exterior. Inside the main building it is normally not allowed, the exception being the annual building exhibition, when most rooms are opened to cameras. The site has a single entrance, the main gate on Meguro-dōri. It is a seven-minute walk from the east exit of Meguro Station and six minutes from exit 1 at Shirokanedai Station.
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Q&A
- Can you visit the Former Residence of Prince Asaka, and what are the opening hours?
- Yes. The house is open to the public as the main building of the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, 10:00 to 18:00, with last admission at 17:30. It closes on Mondays, though when a Monday falls on a public holiday the museum opens and closes the next day instead, and it also closes over the New Year period. During exhibition changeover periods only the garden is open and the main building cannot be entered, so check the calendar on the museum website before travelling.
- Is photography allowed inside the Former Residence of Prince Asaka?
- In the gardens and of the building exterior, yes. Inside the main building photography is normally not permitted. The exception is the annual building exhibition, when the museum opens most rooms to cameras under posted conditions. Instructions given by staff on the day take precedence over anything published in advance.
- How do you reach the Former Residence of Prince Asaka from the nearest station?
- It is a seven-minute walk from the east exit of Meguro Station on the JR Yamanote and Tokyu Meguro lines, and six minutes from exit 1 of Shirokanedai Station on the Toei Mita and Tokyo Metro Namboku lines. Exit 1 has no lift; step-free access is via exit 2, roughly eight minutes on foot. The site has one entrance only, the main gate facing Meguro-dōri.
- Which buildings at the Former Residence of Prince Asaka are Important Cultural Properties?
- Five, all under designation number 2626 dated 8 July 2015: the main building, the teahouse, the storehouse, the garage and the main gate. The first four are counted as one building each and the gate as one structure. The designation reasoning also covers the surrounding building group and gardens as part of what is to be preserved.
- Can visitors see the teahouse and the Winter Garden at the Former Residence of Prince Asaka?
- The teahouse of 1936 stands in the Japanese garden, and the garden and teahouse area is open 10:00 to 16:30, shorter than the gallery hours. Tea gatherings and related programmes are held there periodically. The Winter Garden on the third floor of the main building is opened only during certain exhibitions, so whether you can enter depends on the dates of your visit.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Residence of Prince Asaka (旧朝香宮邸) |
|---|---|
| Location | 5-26 Shirokanedai, Minato City, Tokyo (Agency for Cultural Affairs record). The museum publishes 5-21-9 Shirokanedai as its visitor address. |
| Designation | Important Cultural Property (buildings), designation no. 2626. Criterion: excellence of design. |
| Year Designated | 2015 (8 July). Listed as a Tokyo Metropolitan tangible cultural property in 1993. |
| Quantity | 5 (main building, teahouse, storehouse, garage: 1 building each; main gate: 1 structure) |
| Dimensions | Main building 1,214.60 m² footprint; teahouse 83.27 m²; storehouse 118.30 m²; garage 97.50 m²; main gate 5.0 m between pillars, flanking walls 6.4 m east and 13.1 m west |
| Owner | Tokyo Metropolitan Government |
| Public Access | Open as the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum, 10:00 to 18:00 (last admission 17:30). Closed Mondays and over the New Year period. Garden only during exhibition changeover periods. |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database — Former Residence of Prince Asaka, Main Building
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/102/00004796
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database — Former Residence of Prince Asaka, Garage
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/102/00004799
- Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum — About the Former Residence of Prince Asaka
- https://www.teien-art-museum.ne.jp/museum/building/
- Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum — Opening Hours and Access
- https://www.teien-art-museum.ne.jp/visit/
Last verified: 2026.08.22
Cultural Treasures in the Same Area
All are within walking distance in the same area, so we recommend visiting them together.
- Former Residence of Prince Asaka car garage 0.00 km
- Former Residence of Prince Asaka warehouse 0.03 km
- Former Residence of Prince Asaka Main Building 0.06 km
- Former Residence of Prince Asaka tea room 0.13 km
- Former Residence of Prince Asaka main gate 0.20 km