Mejiro and The Owari Tokugawa Family

The Owari Tokugawa family moved to Mejiro in November 1932. Marquis Yoshichika Tokugawa (1886-1976), the 19th Head of the Owari Tokugawa family, purchased the land in Mejiro from Viscount Yasumochi Toda (1889-1948) in 1930 and asked the architect, Jin Watanabe (1887-1973), a friend of Yoshichika, to design his house because his wife did not like the landscape view from their old house in Azabufujimi (the current French embassy) after many chimneys were built in the neighborhood.

The property included a western-style building designed by Jin Watanabe and a Japanese-style building that was relocated from Azabufujimicho. The large garden located to the south featured a Kannon-do Hall and a tea ceremony house. To the west were the Tokugawa Biological Institute (closed in March 1970) and the Hosa Library (granted to Nagoya City in April 1950, its history research center is now called the Tokugawa Rinsei-shi Kenkyujo) established by the Tokugawa Reimeikai Foundation.

There were also facilities such as a glasshouse and a hall. The hall was used to hold concerts and show movies to entertain guests visiting Yoshichika from both within Japan and overseas. The town council used the hall to hold entertainment shows. The site was surrounded with greenery, and there was no peripheral wall enabling those living nearby to walk through the area.