KYU IWASAKI TEI, Kyu Iwasaki Tei

Hi, my name’s Jill, and I’m your personal guide. Along with MyWoWo, I’d like to welcome you to one of the Wonders of the World: Kyu-Iwasaki-tei, the former estate of the Iwasaki clan, who founded Mitsubishi.

The name Kyu-Iwasaki-tei means “old Iwasaki house”, and the estate consists of three splendid buildings surrounded by lush gardens.

In 1896, Hisaya Iwasaki, the son of the founder of Mitsubishi Group, purchased this area to build his residence. The original project consisted of more than 20 buildings.

After the Second World War, the estate was confiscated by the Americans. Once it was returned, all that remained of the buildings were two Western-style constructions and one in Japanese style; many of the others had been demolished.

During the Meiji era, it was common for Western-style and Japanese-style constructions to be built next to one another, with the latter used as the family home and the former as a guest house....