ABOUT
About this spot
The Tokugawa Art Museum is a private museum in Tokugawa-cho, Higashi Ward, Nagoya. It was founded by Tokugawa Yoshichika, the 19th head of the Owari Tokugawa family, and opened to the public on 10 November 1935. It is run by the Tokugawa Reimeikai Foundation and preserves more than 10,000 items, mainly daimyo household goods handed down in the Owari Tokugawa family. The core of the collection is the Sunpu Owakemono, the personal effects of Tokugawa Ieyasu inherited by his ninth son Yoshinao, the first Owari lord. To these were added goods gathered by successive heads of the Owari Tokugawa family, the foremost of the three Tokugawa branch houses throughout the Edo period. The collection includes 9 National Treasures and 60 Important Cultural Properties. Among the National Treasures are the Tale of Genji Scrolls, the oldest surviving illustrated narrative scrolls, and the Hatsune wedding furnishings, regarded as the supreme masterpiece of lacquerwork. The number of National Treasures is among the largest of any private museum in Japan. The museum also holds many swords, including blades known as meibutsu. The collection shows daimyo life, weddings and tea culture in concrete form. In the Meihin Collection gallery, part of the Ninomaru Palace of Nagoya Castle has been reproduced, so you can see how objects were displayed and used in alcoves, tea rooms and Noh stages. Special and thematic exhibitions are held about ten times a year. The building, completed in 1935 in the teikan style (a Western-style structure with Japanese-style roofs), has been a Registered Tangible Cultural Property since 1997. Exhibitions change a great deal, so check the official website before visiting. The official site gives an average viewing time of 60 to 90 minutes. The museum is closed on Mondays (the next weekday if Monday is a national holiday). The adjacent Japanese garden Tokugawa-en (separate admission) and the exhibition room of the Nagoya City Hosa Library can also be visited. By bus it takes about 20 to 30 minutes from Nagoya Station or Sakae, and it is about a 10-minute walk from Ozone Station.
Last updated October 18, 2026