Tamozawa Imperial Villa Audio Guide

Tamozawa Imperial Villa Memorial Park: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Tamozawa Imperial Villa Memorial Park

   Welcome to Tamozawa Imperial Villa Memorial Park, known in Japanese as 田母沢御用邸記念公園. It sits on Honcho in the city of Nikko, in Tochigi Prefecture. This was once a quiet retreat for a future emperor. Today it is a prefectural historical park, and it is open to anyone who wants to wander through its rooms and gardens. What makes it special is that Japan built many imperial villas from the Meiji era onward, and this is the only one whose buildings survive almost completely intact. The complex of buildings is designated a national Important Cultural Property. It is also described as one of the largest wooden buildings in Japan, and it blends Edo, Meiji and Taisho architecture under one roof. The park lies close to the famous shrines and temples of Nikko, a World Heritage site, and it is roughly a ten-minute walk from them. Mountains frame the setting, and cedars surround it. Over the next few minutes we will look at how a banker's holiday house became an imperial residence, what the building is made of, and how to enjoy the grounds today.

2. 02

   A Prince Falls for Nikko at Tamozawa Imperial Villa Memorial Park

   The story starts in the summer of 1896. Prince Yoshihito, who would later reign as Emperor Taisho, stayed at the Nikko imperial villa and took to the local climate and landscape. By the end of that same year, negotiations had begun to buy the land for a new villa at Tamozawa. The land was not empty. The people living there were moved together to Yasukawa town. The owner of that land was Count Katsu Kaishu, and the town took its name from the count who granted it. The villa itself was built in 1899, the thirty-second year of Meiji, as a retreat for the prince when he was crown prince. The core of the property had an earlier life as well. The villa grew from the detached residence of Kobayashi Toshiyasu, a banker from Nikko in the Meiji period. Part of an old residence of the Kishu Tokugawa family, from Edo, was added to it. That part had been used at Akasaka Palace before it came here. So the building you see carries Tokyo's feudal past into the Nikko mountains.

3. 03

   Wood, Rooms and Rare Openings at Tamozawa Imperial Villa Memorial Park

   Architecturally, this is a layered building. Edo-period elements, Meiji-era work and Taisho-era additions sit together in one huge wooden complex. That mix is part of why the buildings are so valued. Among the many imperial villas built since the Meiji era, this is the only one where almost the entire complex survives. The national Important Cultural Property designation covers the group of buildings. The third-floor observation room was designated in December 2003, and a special winter opening was created to mark it. The second floor holds the Empress's study, which is normally closed to the public. That room opens for limited periods in spring, timed to the blossoms of a weeping cherry tree about 400 years old. It usually peaks from mid to late April. If your visit coincides with one of these openings, you get to see rooms that are normally off limits. The openings happen only every few seasons, so they are worth planning around.

4. 04

   Gardens, Mountains and Cows at Tamozawa Imperial Villa Memorial Park

   Step outside and the setting explains why a prince wanted to stay here. To the north rise the Nikko mountains, including Mount Nantai and Mount Nyoho. To the south, across the clear Daiya River, Mount Narukami serves as borrowed scenery, a distant peak that the garden design treats as part of its own view. The western edge is marked by the Tamozawa River, which flows down from Jakko Falls. Cedars surround the whole park. The gardens are as much a draw as the buildings. Visitors come in autumn, when the bright colors of Nikko's leaves play against the calm wood tones of the villa. In spring there are the garden flowers and that old weeping cherry. There is also a charming detail about daily life. Today's car park stands on the site of a cowshed that kept dairy cows for the emperor. Refrigeration was scarce then, so cows accompanied the imperial party to the provinces, to guarantee fresh milk.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off

   The villa's story did not stop with its first resident. It later served as a hiding place for Emperor Hirohito during World War II, and today it hosts quieter events. In January 2022, for the first time, the training hall here was used for the Nikko city coming-of-age ceremony. If you are planning your route, the park is easy to link with the shrines and temples nearby, about 10 minutes away on foot. From Nikko Station it is about 3 kilometers, roughly a forty-minute walk. A local bus from the station stops right at the park. As you wander, look for the places where the building's different eras meet. Notice how the mountains seem to belong to the garden. And see whether you can imagine where those dairy cows once stood. Each corner here has another small story waiting.