Tokugawa Art Museum

About Tokugawa Art Museum

Immerse yourself in the refined world of the Tokugawa shogunate at this prestigious museum housing treasures from the Owari Tokugawa family, one of the three main Tokugawa branches. Established in 1935, the museum preserves the sophisticated culture of Japan's ruling feudal lords, displaying exquisite samurai swords, armor, tea ceremony items, and the national treasure wedding furnishings. The collection provides intimate insights into the daily lives and aesthetic sensibilities of Japan's most powerful samurai family.

History

The Tokugawa Art Museum opened on November 10, 1935, in the Tokugawa-en garden district of Nagoya to preserve and display the hereditary collection of the Owari branch of the Tokugawa clan, the senior of the three cadet houses descended from Tokugawa Ieyasu. The collection originated with Ieyasu's own bequest to his ninth son Yoshinao, first lord of Owari Domain, and grew across generations of Owari rule over what is now Aichi Prefecture. The museum is operated by the Tokugawa Reimeikai Foundation, established in 1931 by Yoshichika Tokugawa, the nineteenth head of the Owari house, specifically to transfer the family treasures into a public trust. The main building and south archive, designed by Yoshimoto Yoshio in the Imperial Crown style that combines Japanese rooflines with a Western structure beneath, were completed in 1935 and remain in use today.

What to See

The museum's holdings of more than 12,000 items are built around the personal effects, weapons, and ceremonial objects of a ruling samurai house. For samurai-focused visitors the core attractions are the sword and armor galleries, which draw on a collection that includes swords designated as National Treasures, among them tachi bearing the signatures of Masatsune and Kuniyuki, along with nineteen swords registered as Important Cultural Properties. Several blades are typically on permanent display in the Gallery of Masterpieces. Other galleries present Owari Tokugawa armor, Noh costumes and masks used by the domain's performers, tea ceremony utensils associated with Ieyasu and Sen no Rikyu, and lacquer furnishings from daimyo wedding trousseaux. The museum's three twelfth-century Tale of Genji Illustrated Scrolls, National Treasures in their own right, are shown to the public for about a week each November due to their fragility.

Visitor Tips

Hours are 10:00 to 17:00 with last admission at 16:30, and the museum is closed on Mondays except when Monday is a national holiday, as well as during exhibition change periods. Allow roughly two hours for the galleries. Access is about a ten to fifteen minute walk from the south exit of Ozone Station on the JR Chuo Line. The adjacent Tokugawa-en garden is sold on a combined ticket and rewards another hour of walking.

Visitor Information

Hours: 10:00-17:00 (Last admission 16:30)

Admission:

• General: 1,600 yen
• High school/College: 800 yen
• Elementary/Middle school: 500 yen

Access: From Nagoya Station: Take City Bus Kikan 2 to 'Tokugawaen Shinde' stop (30 min), then 3-minute walk. Or take JR Chuo Line to Ohsone Station (20 min), then 10-minute walk.

Museum Highlights

• Tokugawa family treasures
• National treasure items
• Samurai daily life exhibits
• Educational programs

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the opening hours at Tokugawa Art Museum?

10:00-17:00 (Last admission 16:30)

How much is admission to Tokugawa Art Museum?

General: 1,600 yen; High school/College: 800 yen; Elementary/Middle school: 500 yen

How do I get to Tokugawa Art Museum?

From Nagoya Station: Take City Bus Kikan 2 to 'Tokugawaen Shinde' stop (30 min), then 3-minute walk. Or take JR Chuo Line to Ohsone Station (20 min), then 10-minute walk.