Taito City Culture Guide Book, Visit Kyu-Iwasaki-tei

"Sangai-bishi," a crest of the Iwasaki family, is placed on various components and furniture of the Japanese-style house.

A survey map of Kaya-machi residence(Kyu-Iwasaki-tei)(1917)

The survey map of Kaya-machi residence (Kyu-Iwasaki-tei) (1917)

A replica of the survey map that was designated as an important cultural property in 1999 is displayed in the house. The actual vastness of the site can be imagined. [Click to enlarge the picture.]

Q. How is the main building currently used? It opened in 2001. Until then, wasn't it opened to the public?

Matsui: The Agency for Cultural Affairs entrusted the Tokyo Metropolitan Government with the management of this building which was designated as a national important cultural property. Since then, many people have come to see the building and deepen their understanding of the architectural culture at that time. Visitors have looked at it as a house which was built along with the Japanese-style houses in those days, and as one of the masterpieces by Josiah Conder who was said to be a father of the Japanese modern architecture. We have given priority to the preservation and handing down of the cultural property and continued to work on it. Kyu-Iwasaki-tei had been used as the Ministry of Justice's Judicial Research and Training Institute. I also never thought it has opened as a Tokyo metropolitan park. Therefore, many people still do not know about the garden.

Q. Are the main gate and vegetation largely unchanged?

Matsui: The main gate was placed at the present location after a part of the grounds were sold. Staff members of the Ministry of Justice went in and out from this gate. The original gate was placed at the site facing Kasuga Street. I heard that it was a huge gate made of oak. Horse-drawn carriages were stationed in front of the gate. It was so-called carriage-drive. It corresponds to an approach to a shrine. The vegetation is not largely changed. When we were entrusted with the management of the garden, it was neglected. When we visited the garden in order to carry out opening preparations, native plants grew densely. Weeds in the lawn garden grew as high as a man. I took about a half year to mow the lawn, cut down naturally-grown trees and construct the garden. Many staff members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government were impressed into the gardening. As a result, the garden reached a level at which it can be shown to the public, but it is still in an incomplete state. (It continues to the bottom step)

Mt. Fuji drawn by Japanese-style painter Gaho Hashimoto adorns a large room's tokonoma in the Japanese-style house.

The tokonoma in the Japanese-style house: Most of the wall paintings, including paintings on fusuma sliding doors and panel paintings, are works by Gaho Hashimoto, a great master of Japanese-style painting in the Meiji Period. [Click to enlarge the picture.]

Q. Have people already lived around the garden?

Matsui: The land behind the garden is administered by the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Justice's houses stand on this side. It is the Kanto Local Finance Bureau. Some buildings are privately owned. I heard that the Kanto Local Finance's buildings, which stood behind the garden, might be relocated. Although it is the property paid in kind by the Iwasaki family, the land has been poorly-supervised. It is true that elderly people and others who have lived around this area initiated a campaign to restore the garden to its original state. We appreciate their efforts. I also heard that it is better for Bunkyo City (Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Teien is located on the border between Taito City and Bunkyo City) to convert the land into a park. Anyway, we have nothing to do about it.

Q. If the land is sold to private sectors, it is inevitable that condominiums would be built on the land. However, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government has an ordinance that prohibits construction of tall buildings within several hundred meters from historical buildings in order to preserve the scenery. So private sectors also might not be able to buy the land.

Matsui: It seems Bunkyo City also considers a landscape ordinance, but future prospects are unknown.

Q. Were the original grounds the site of feudal lords' residence?

Matsui: The original grounds were larger than the present land. It is said that the grounds was 60,000 square meters. It was longer than the present one. I think the grounds stretched to the area around the Tatsuoka-mon gate of the University of Tokyo. The Iwasaki family also owned the land around the area and the land of Bunkyo City's gymnasium. The Iwasaki family relinquished those lands during the dissolution of the big financial combines after the Second World War. In this residence, there were about 50 employees, who commuted from houses built by the Iwasaki family. The Iwasaki family took good care of employees.

Q. What kinds of people have visited this house and garden? Were they well informed about the historical background? How about foreign visitors?

Matsui: The majority of visitors are women aged between 40 and 60. I think they have yearnings for a Western-style house and nostalgic feelings about it, and most of them do not know the historical background. They might have a yearning to live in a Western-style house at least once in their lives. Foreign visitors account for less than 5 percent. However, visitors from Taiwan and Korea have recently increased. Japan Asia Airways had once advertised Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Teien during flights with the theme of noted places in Japan. Because of the advertisement, visitors from Taiwan have significantly increased.

Acanthus, which is also shown in the design of William Morris, spreads its brilliant big leaves in the garden.

The garden also has traces of Daimyo (feudal lord) garden.

The symbolic Himalayan cedar in the garden

This big Himalayan cedar is a symbol of the garden.

Q. We visited the garden about three to four years ago, and took photographs of the garden. It seemed the garden development was still ongoing. Tonogayato Teien in Kokubunji has a pond. Was the style of the original garden similar to that of Tonogayato Teien?

Matsui: Yes, I think so. There is a small garden beside the Japanese-style house that I will show you from now. Only part of the garden has remained. I must say that it is a poor garden although it is called "garden." There is no evidence that a pond was made in the original garden. Basically, notions of a lawn garden, Japanese-style garden and landscape garden in a circular style are different one another, so their planting plans also differ.

Q. Are drawings of the grounds and buildings at that time preserved?

Matsui: The surveyed drawing, which was made in 1917 by the army at that time, is credible one. The drawing itself is designated as an important cultural property, and its exact-size reproduction is displayed in the house. Positions of lanterns and garden paths are indicated on the drawing. If the original 49,600-squre-meter garden is reconstructed, it is fantastic. It might be impossible to reconstruct buildings, but we just want to restore the garden. This is our dream.