Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden 2.72

is located in Taitō, Tokyo. It is the former estate of the Iwasaki clan who were the founders of Mitsubishi; the name Kyū-Iwasaki-tei means Old Iwasaki house. The premises have three buildings: a Western-style house designed by British architect Josiah Conder, a Japanese house and a billiard house, and cover an area of about 17,000 square metres.HistoryThe grounds were originally owned by the Sakakibara family of the Echigo Takada Clan in the Edo Period, and were the site of their Edo residence. The property passed to the Makino family of the Maizuru clan in the early Meji Era. In 1896, Hisaya Iwasaki, son of the founder of the Mitsubishi group, Yataro Iwasaki, purchased this land — three years after becoming Mitsubishi's third president. The premises became the official residence of the Iwasaki family.Hisaya Iwasaki hired the British architect, Josiah Conder, who designed a two-story Western-style main building and the Swiss-style billiards house. The whole project actually consisted of more than 20 buildings on 49,500 m² property.After World War II, the residence was confiscated by the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers and after it was returned it was used as the Judicial Research and Training Institute of the Supreme Court until 1970.