The founding family of the old Mitsubishi organization left an impressive legacy of architecture, treasures and landscaping, including Toyo Bunko, which houses the first Latin Printing of Marco Polo’s Description of the World, the Seikado Bunko Art Museum which houses the national treasure Tea bowl Yohen Temmoku, the Iwasakis’ old residence in Kaya-cho designed by British architect Josiah Condor, and Koiwai Farm renowned for its sound environmental management, sustainability and recycling. Here we present architecture, treasures and landscaping that have deep connections with Mitsubishi. These cultural treasures are open to the public. We hope you will use this information to experience the history and culture of these sites.
TOYO BUNKO

The Seikado Bunko Library and
The Seikado Bunko Art Museum

The Mitsubishi Archives
(An annex to of The Mitsubishi
Economic Research Institute [MERI])

The birthplace of Yataro Iwasaki

kyu-Iwasaki-tei Teien (Garden)

Mitsubishi’s birth place
blessed by Tosa Inari 		Koiwai Farm

Kiyosumi Teien (Garden)

Rikugi-en (Garden)

Sanyo-so

Hakone Yumoto Yoshiike Ryokan

Hotel de YAMA

Tonogayato Teien (Garden) 		Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery
Works Historical Museum

Meijiseimeikan

The NYK Maritime Museum

NYK Hikawamaru

Sado Gold Mine

Osarizawa Mine

Mitsubishi Ichigokan
Experience the cultural legacy of Mitsubishi, the historic architecture and landscaping maintained and managed in its original state. Since these are open to the public, visitors are free to stroll around and learn about the culture and history the area.
Toyo Bunko is located along Shinobazu-dori, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo. In 1917, Hisaya Iwasaki purchased the private library of George Ernest Morrison, an advisor to the Office of the Chinese Government. He improved on this collection of eastern language materials by increasing the number of classical Chinese and Japanese books, collecting and selecting sources from all over Asia. In 1924 he established the center as Japan's first library devoted exclusively to Asian Studies. Toyo Bunko currently houses as many as 1,000,000 books, including globally important literature such as five works designated as national treasures and seven works designated as important cultural properties in Japanese, Chinese and Western languages and source materials of various Asian languages. Toyo Bunko is in fact the largest Asian studies center in Japan and one of the five largest in the world.
      In principle, all materials are available to public, and visitors may even take photocopies if they wish (note that some exceptions apply). The public is also welcome to attend the Toyo Bunko's regular lectures to get a glimpse of the fascinating world of Asian studies.
      A new museum that will exhibit rare books is due to open in the autumn of 2011. The museum will give the public the opportunity to view many precious books with the emphasis on works designated as national treasures and as important cultural properties.
Location:2-28-21 Honkomagome, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo
TEL. 81-3-3942-0328
Nearest Station: 8 min. walk from Komagome Station on JR Yamanote Line or subway Nanboku Line/
7 min. walk from Sengoku Station on subway Mita Line/
1 min. walk from Kamifujimae bus stop
Reading Room: Hours: 9:00 to 16:30 Closed on weekends, national holidays, the last day of each month No fee browsing the library.
Museum(Open in 10/20,2011):Hours:10:00 to 20:00 Closed on Tuesday, while changing exhibition.
1. Artist’s impression of completed museum due to open
in the autumn 2011.
2. Marco Polo’s Description of the world
3. Hokusai's illustrated tourist guide to Edo
Lectures on Asian studies, a tradition since 1926, are offered biannually in spring and autumn.
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A 10 minute walk from Kinuta-koen Park will take you to Seikado Bunko, which occupies an English-style country cottage in a quiet residential area of Okamoto, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo, where natural setting of Musashino is still preserved.
The Seikado Foundation currently possesses about 200,000 volumes of old Japanese and Chinese books, documents and numerous old works of art, including many masterpieces registered by the Japanese Government as National Treasures or Important Cultural Properties.
      This collection of important cultural materials was started around 1888 by Iwasaki Yanosuke, the second president of the Mitsubishi Company, who retained an admiration for Far Eastern culture, which had fallen into neglect during the period of the Westernization of Japan during the Meiji period (1868-1912), and wished to preserve such cultural materials and prevent them from becoming scattered and lost. The collection was enlarged and strengthened by the founder’s son Iwasaki Koyata, Mitsubishi’s fourth president.
      In 1992, in commemoration of the hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Seikado collection, a new art museum was opened and activities in this area greatly expanded.
      “Seikado” is the studio-name of Iwasaki Yanosuke.
      The exhibition is held several times a year with information and lectures by special researchers and curators available. (Check exhibition schedules before your visit since there is no regular display).
Location:2-23-1 Okamoto, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo
TEL. (Library) 81-3-3700-2250
(Art Museum) 81-3-3700-0007
Nearest Station:Futakotamagawa Station on
Tokyu Den-en Toshi Line and Ooimachi Line,
recommendable to take a taxi from the station (about 10 minutes.)
 
1. Panoramic view of Seikado.
2. Scenes from Miotsukushi Chapter of the “Genji Monogatari”
(National Treasure) by Tawaraya Sotatsu
3. Tea Bowl “Yohen Temmoku” (National Treasure)
4. Incense burner in the shape of conch shell, enameled ware
(Important Cultural property) by Nonomura Ninsei
The art museum is open to the public while the library is available
for the persons who booked in advance.
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The origin of The Mitsubishi Economic Research Institute (MERI) is the Economic Research Department of Mitsubishi Goshi Kaisha (Mitsubishi Holding Company), established in 1922. MERI has been known as the definitive economic research institute in Japan. In 1995, the Mitsubishi Archives were established as an annex to MERI to commemorate the 125th anniversary of the founding of Mitsubishi next to the old main residence of Iwasaki Family. The main mission of the Mitsubish Archives is to safekeep the Mitsubishi Companies’ historical business documents and materials, and to conduct research and studies on the history of Mitsubishi’s diversified business development since its establishment, along with Japan’s industries’ development. There is an exhibition hall in the Mitsubishi Archives where visitors may obtain an overall view of Mitsubishi’s history, examining real historical archives exhibited there.
Location:4-10-14 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo
TEL.81-3-5802-8673
Nearest Station: 5 min. walk from subway Yushima Station/7min. walk from subway Hongo 3-chome Station
Hours: 10:00 to 12:00    13:00 to 16:30
Closed on weekends and national holidays
Admission is free
1. The elegant brick exterior of the Mitsubishi Archives
2. Reading room by reservation
3. The display makes it easy to understand Mitsubishi’s history and
its historical background
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Yataro Iwasaki was born as the first son of Yajiro and Miwa Iwasaki in Inokuchi (now, Inokuchi, Aki City) in 1835. The thatched cottage and the mudwalled warehouse surrounded by bamboo fences were restored to their original state to look as they did when Yataro was young.
Location:Inokuchi, Aki-city, Kochi
TEL. 81-887-35-1011 (municipal office)
  
Nearest Station: Aki Station on Tosa Kuroshio Railway Gomen-Nahari Line. Then take a taxi.
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British architect Josiah Condor, whose work includes Rokumeikan and St. Nicolas’s cathedral, designed this mansion for Hisaya Iwasaki. Although there used to be more than 20 buildings on the site of about 50,000m2, only three of them remain today; the Western style house, the billiard hall, and the Japanese style house. This style is Jacobian, in the manner of the British Renaissance, and the interior is highly ornamental. The delicate design, which was rare amongst the architecture of the time, will transport you back to the early days of modern Japan.
Location:1-3-45 Ikenohata, Taito-ku, Tokyo
TEL.81-3-3823-8340
Nearest Station: Yushima Station on subway Chiyoda Line/
Uenohirokoji Station on subway Ginza Line/
Ueno-Okachimachi Station on subway Oedo Line/
Okachimachi Station on JR Yamanote Line
 
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Tosa Inari was the shrine of the protective spirit for the Tosa Clan situated at the site of the clan owned warehouse and residence before Meiji. When the social structure was modernized and clans were replaced by prefectures, in 1874 the shrine was given to Yataro Iwasaki along with the warehouse and was rebuilt on the larger scale you see today. On the east side of the shrine, there is a monument that tells you the land used to be the site of Iwasaki residence.
Location:4-9-7 Kita-Horie, Nisi-ku, Osaka
TEL. 81-6-6531-2826
  
Nearest Station: Nishi Nagahori Station on subway
Sennichimae Line/
Nagahori-Tsurumi-Ryokuchi Line
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Koiwai Farm was named after its cofounders, Gishin Ono (then vice president of Japan Railway. O shared the same Kanji character as KO), Yanosuke Iwasaki (then president of Mitsubishi), and Masaru Inoue (then Director General of the Railway Agency). Over a century were spent for the foundation as the ground was acidic and extremely sterile as of its opening 1891. Today the site attracts a lot of visitors as a fertile farm of 3,000 ha where cattle and sh?eep are kept.
Location:36-1 Maruyachi, Shizukuishi-cho, Iwate-gun, Iwate
TEL. 81-19-692-4321
Nearest Station: A bus bound for Koiwai No-jo Makiba-en or Amihari Onsen from Morioka Station on JR Line/From Tohoku Expressway Morioka IC 12 km to Makiba-en
 
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Yataro Iwasaki purchased the grounds of the estate of a daimyo of the Edo era, to provide his workers and noble guests with a place for recreation. The work of landscaping continued after his death, it was completed as a sublime garden with a pond in the middle and paths well maintained trees around. Although it suffered a great damage from the Great Kanto Earthquake, the garden helped save a number of lives as it was used as housing for evacuees. Yataro’s heirs donated it to the City of Tokyo in the following year of 1924, when it reopened as Kiyosumi Teien.
Location:3-3-9 Kiyosumi, Koto-ku, Tokyo
TEL. 81-3-3641-5892
Nearest Station: Kiyosumi-shirakawa Station on subway Oedo Line or Hanzomon Line
 
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A confidant of one of the early Tokugawa shoguns built this sublime Japanese garden in what is now Tokyo. It was counted as one of the two greatest gardens of the Edo period. (The other is Koishikawa Korakuen.) After seven years of construction, it was completed as a landscaped garden adopting the same style as the garden of Katsura Rikyu (an imperial Villa in Kyoto). This delicate garden contains a manmade pond and a hill raised at the corner of Musashino plain, which gives it a feeling of warmth. Yataro Iwasaki obtained the garden at the beginning of the Meiji era. His descendents donated it to the City of Tokyo in 1938.
Location:6-16-3 Hon-Komagome, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo
TEL. 81-3-3941-2222
Nearest Station: Komagome Station on JR Line or subway Nanboku Line/Sengoku Station on subway Mita Line
 
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Sanyo-so was an elegant Japanese style residence constructed as a Hisaya Iwasaki’s villa in the middle of an expansive garden designed by Kyoto-based gardener, Jihei Ogawa. The name Sanyo came from the Iwasakis’ family motto. The estate was converted to a hotel in 1947, and it still offers a great view of the garden of 10,000 m2.
Location:270 Mamanoue, Izunokuni-city, Shizuoka TEL. 81-55-947-1111
 
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Along with a large garden of impressive 33,000m2, this state registered cultural property and a former estate of the Iwasaki villa features a sublime scenery. It is now run as a Yoshiike Ryokan Hotel (established in 1941). If you have a chance to ramble along the paths of this landscaped garden, which was completed in 1908, enjoy the cherry blossoms, azalea, and, calla, lilies in spring, hydrangea in summer, and the colored leaves in autumn.
Location:597 Yumoto, Hakone-machi, Ashigarashimo-gun, Kanagawa
TEL.81-460-85-5711
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Built on the site of Yataro Iwasaki’s villa, this mountain resort hotel is situated by Lake Ashi. It celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2008. Enjoy the changing view of the seasons with azalea and rhododendron planted by Koyata Iwasaki, Mt. Fuji sits majestically in the background.
Location:80 Moto-Hakone, Hakone-machi, Ashigarashimo-gun, Kanagawa
TEL. 81-460-83-6321
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This garden was originally founded as a villa for Sadae Eguchi, later president of South Manchuria Railways Co.,. The Iwasakis purchased the villa from him in 1929, requesting Nomi Tsuda to design additional buildings including a Western style mansion and a Japanese tea house (Koyotei). The garden also features a pond and roaming paths. It is now owned by Tokyo Metropolitan Government charging admission for general public.
Location:2-16 Minami-machi, Kokubunji-city, Tokyo TEL. 81-42-324-7991
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The Historical Museum was opened in 1985 by refurbishing an old building in the premises of Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works. A red brick building of the museum originally built in 1898 is the oldest existing building on the site of Nagasaki Shipyard & Machinery Works. a birthplace of Mitshubishi Heavy Industries. Inside the museum,more than 900 valuable items are displayed not only including significant historic documents and photographs that convey approximately 150 years of history since its foundaton in 1857, but also oldest machine tools and the very first domestically-developed land steam turbine in Japan.
Location:1-1, Akunoura-machi, Nagasaki
TEL. 81-95-828-4134
Nearest Station: Nagasaki Station on JR Line
 
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Meijiseimeikan is a reinforced concrete building on a steel framework featuring 8 floors above ground and an additional 2 floors underground with cutting edge facilities of the time. Designed by Prof. Shinichiro Okada of Tokyo Art School (Tokyo University of Art) who had considerable influence on the architects’ society, it was completed in 1934 after three years of construction. Meijiseimeikan is highly appreciated as a master piece of classicism, and it is considered one of the best modern western style buildings. Surviving the tumultuous Showa era, it was requisitioned by GHQ after WWII and used by ACJ (Allied Council for Japan).
Location:2-1-1 Marunouchi, Chiyoda-ku Tokyo
TEL. 81-3-3823-9252
Nearest Station: Tokyo and Yurakucho Station on JR Line
Nijubashimae Station on subway Chiyoda Line
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The NYK Maritime Museum offers the opportunity to learn about the 120 years of history of modern maritime transport by its extensive resouces and model ships. The historic museum building was originally built as the Yokohama branch of NYK (Nippon Yusen Kaisha) in 1936 and it has distinctive Corinthian columns reaching up to the top of the second floor.
Location:3-9, Kaigan-Dori Naka-ku,Yokohama
TEL. 81-45-211-1923
Nearest Station:Bashamichi Station on the Minato Mirai Line
Kannai Station on JR Line
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NYK was founded in 1885, and became a pioneer of maritime transport. It is also known as a company who owns Hikawamaru, the ship completed in 1930 and now moored to Yamashita Park. In 30 years of service, it crossed the Pacific 254 times, carrying around 25,000 passengers and a great volume of cargo. It was designated as a tangible cultural property by the Yokohama city government in 2003.
Location:In front of Yamashita-park, Yamashita-cho Naka-ku, Yokohama
TEL. 81-45-641-4362
Nearest Station: Motomachi-Chukagai Station on the Minato Mirai Line 
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Sado Gold Mine discovered in 1601, is a big gold mine. It is existing 3 km from east to west and goes down as deep as 800m. It became a royal property in 1889 until it was sold off to Mitsubishi Goshi Kaisha. It remained under the management of Mitsubishi Mining Co., Ltd (Mitsubishi Materials Corporation) until the mine was closed in 1989, until which time it had been a working mine producing 78tons of gold in 388years. It now serves as a sightseeing facility, and we are trying it to be appointed World Heritage.
Location:1350 Shimo-Aikawa Sado-city, Niigata TEL. 81-259-74-2389
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Osarizawa Mine was discovered in 708. Mitsubishi managed it from 1889.It produced 4.4tons of gold,155tons of silver and 300,000 tons of copper until its closure in 1978.Now a subsidiary of the Mitsubishi Materials Corporation opens for public for sightseeing.

Location: 13-5 Shishizawa Osarizawa, Kazuno-city, Akita TEL. 81-186-22-0123
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Built in 1894 in the Queen Ann style of Victorian England, the Mitsubishi Ichigokan was the first modern office building in the Marunouchi District. Many other red brick office buildings were constructed nearby in the years that followed, and by 1910s, the area was affectionately known as Iccho London , because of its resemblance to the English capital. During the post-war period of high economic growth, the Marunouchi District was largely rebuilt in an effort to create a modern business center, and in 1968, the Mitsubishi Ichigokan also vanished from the Marunouchi cityscape.
      But today, the Mitsubishi Ichigokan again stands on the same plot of land it stood more than 100 years ago, and in April 2010, this historic building will reopen as an art museum.
      The construction of the new Mitsubishi Ichigokan was a massive undertaking as developers went to great lengths to faithfully replicate the original structure. Extensive research was conducted, focusing on the building’s original designs and related documents as well as survey maps, photos and actual materials from the demolished building. Once construction got underway, as many as 250 workers a day, including bricklayers and stone masons, were involved in the restoration project.
      The Mitsubishi Ichigokan recreates the historic landscape of the Marunouchi District and serves as a reminder of the area’s proud past. As an art museum, the building will also function as a new cultural hub in Tokyo. More than 200 lithographs and posters by the 19th-century French painter Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec will be included in the museum’s collections; these precious works had been kept by Toulouse-Lautrec until his death, after which they passed to Maurice Joyant, a gallery owner and close friend of the artist.
      The building also houses a café and a shop as well as the Mitsbishi Ichigokan Historical Reference Room and the Mitsubishi Center Digital Gallery, where visitors can view the archives of the Mitsubishi Group, including precious works of art. With its retro atmophere, the Mitsubishi Ichigokan is an attractive space, where visitors will feel as if they have been transported back to the good old days.
Location:6-2, Marunouchi 2-chome, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Tel. 81-3-5777-8600 (“Hello Dial” Information Service)
Nearest Station:5 min. walk from JR’s Tokyo and Yurakucho Stations on JR Line / 3 min. walk from Nijubashimae Station on subway Chiyoda Line
1. The reconstructed Mitsubishi Ichigokan. On the first floor is a café, the
museum shop, the Mitsubishi Center Digital Gallery, the Mitsubishi
Ichigokan Historical Document Reference Room and the ticket office
2. Windows here in the Exhibition Room and in other parts of building
reuse glass from the former Shin-Marunouchi Building.
3. A café has been set up in the space that originally served as a bank
office
4. A photo of the originial Mitsuibshi Ichigokan, taken in the mid 1960s
5. The bank office circa 1900.
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