Our first place of visitation in Nikko today was the Nikko Tamozawa Imperial Villa.
According to the venue’s guide, the Tamozawa Imperial Villa was built around the former Edo residence of the Kishu Tokugawa clan, and brought from Edo to Nikko, with the main three-floor section of the residence moved to Nikko and the villa then built around it. The Villa itself was constructed in 1899 for Prince Yoshihito – later Emperor Taisho – as a retreat, and was used by Japanese royalty of emperors and princes until 1947. The villa represents the best Japanese architecture of the Edo, Meiji and Taisho eras. But after World War II, the place was neglected until the Tochigi Prefectural Government undertook a study of the building techniques of each of these eras, and restored the villa with the help of modern architects and artisans. The project was completed in 2000 and the villa was then opened to the public. There is a gallery with photographs mounted on the wall which is a pictorial record of the restoration work done by the artisans. The villa is pretty big, and you could easily spend an hour or more exploring the many room, their uses, and also significance.
The villa is a designated important cultural property, and visitors at the entrance and admissions counter are requested to respect the area and behave themselves. Shoes are not permitted in the villa, but visitors are loaned padded reinforced socks to wear on top of your own if you have them on too. There are also plenty of villa staff advising and also monitoring visitors. A few of them were happy to engage with local visitors to explain various parts of the villa, but I reckon they might not be as proficient in conversational English, so their interaction with us was largely to advise us on what to do and what not to do when in the villa. The staff were very nice, but there is no mistaking of their firmness in making sure that the property is respected.
In all, I loved this visit, and the many information boards and also visual aids – e.g. pictures and photographs – really help illustrate how the villa was used in the last century. Our two kids probably didn’t find the place as fascinating though, so if you have young kids with you, you’d need to keep them in check lest you get reprimanded by villa staff!
Our exploration of Nikko continues in the next post!