The is an art museum in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. The museum is located in Minato ward, just east of

Meguro Station is a railway station in the Kamiōsaki district of Shinagawa, Tokyo, close to the boundary with Meguro ward. Lines Meguro Station is served by the following lines: *East Japan Railway Company (JR East) Yamanote Line *Tokyo Metro Namboku Line - ...

. The

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

building, completed in 1933, has interiors designed by Henri Rapin and features decorative glass work by

René Lalique René Jules Lalique (6 April 1860 – 1 May 1945) was a French jeweller, medallist, and glass designer known for his creations of glass art, perfume bottles, vases, jewellery, chandeliers, clocks, and automobile hood ornaments. Life Lalique's ...

History

The Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum building was previously the residence of

Prince Asaka Yasuhiko General was the founder of a collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family and a general in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Japanese invasion of China and the Second World War. Son-in-law of Emperor Meiji and uncle by marriage of Em ...

and his family from 1933 to 1947. The prince, who studied at the

École Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr The École spéciale militaire de Saint-Cyr (ESM, literally the "Special Military School of Saint-Cyr") is a French military academy, and is often referred to as Saint-Cyr (). It is located in Coëtquidan in Guer, Morbihan, Brittany. Its motto is ...

in France, and travelled to the United States in 1925, was greatly enamoured of the Art Deco movement. On his return to Japan he commissioned the construction of his own private residence in this style. Although many of the interiors were designed according to plans submitted by Henri Rapin, the main architect of the building itself is credited as Gondo Yukichi of the Works Bureau of the

Imperial Household Ministry The (IHA) is an agency of the government of Japan in charge of state matters concerning the Imperial Family, and also the keeping of the Privy Seal and State Seal of Japan. From around the 8th century AD, up until the Second World War, it ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

the building served as the

official residence An official residence is the House, residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, Clergy, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-relate ...

of the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

(1947–50), and as a State Guest House (1950–74). The residence was first opened to the public as a museum in 1983. It is one of Japan's many museums which are supported by a prefectural government. ''Teien'' means

Japanese garden are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...

, and the museum is so named because the building is surrounded by a garden and sculptures.

Current facilities

After undergoing extensive renovation in 2013, the museum was re-opened in November 2014. The new museum annex, designed in collaboration with

Hiroshi Sugimoto is a Japanese photographer and architect. He leads the Tokyo-based architectural firm New Material Research Laboratory. Early life and education Hiroshi Sugimoto was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan. He reportedly took his earliest photographs ...

includes modern exhibition spaces, a café and museum shop.

Gallery

File:Prince Asaka residence.jpg, Prince Asaka Residence File:Teien Museum Garden.jpg, Teien Museum from Garden File:Teien Annex.jpg, Teien Museum Annex (completed 2014) File:Tokyo_Metropolitan_Museum_entrance.jpg, Museum Entrance Winter Garden in Tokyo Metropolotan Teien Art Museum.jpg,

Winter garden A winter garden is a kind of garden maintained in wintertime. History The origin of the winter garden dates back to the 17th to 19th centuries where European nobility would construct large conservatories that would house tropical and subtro ...

on the rooftop Ceiling illumination made of staind glass ceiling in the Tokyo Metropolotan Teien Art Museum.jpg, The illumination made of

stained glass Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...

Private Dining Room in the Tokyo Metropolotan Teien Art Museum.jpg, This room was used for the Asakanomiya family's daily meals. A lighting fixture of René Lalique in the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum.jpg, A lighting fixture of

in the great dining room A lighting fixture of René Lalique in the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum2.jpg, A lighting fixture of René Lalique in the great dining room The figure of penguins in the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum.jpg, Ornament of pottery in around 1920 of Danish Royal

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

which was modeled on the penguin put in the room Great Dining Hall in the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum.jpg, A great dining room The porcelain fountain in the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum.jpg, A white porcelain "perfume tower" in the room called "Tsugi-no-ma"The tower was designed by Henri Lapin in 1932 and built by the National Sabre Pottery Studio. Because the perfumed tower had a mechanism to allow water to flow, it was described as "Fountain" in drawings of the Imperial Household Ministry, etc., but later it came to be called "perfume tower" because Prince Asaka put perfume on the upper part of the lighting to give the fragrance by the heat of the lighting. At Savle Ceramics in France, it is recorded that "Vase Lumineux Rapin" (Lappan's Shining Container).

References

External links

Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum: General information
English website. {{Authority control Art museums and galleries in Tokyo Imperial residences in Japan Art Deco architecture in Japan Buildings and structures in Minato, Tokyo

History

Current facilities

Gallery

See also

References

External links