Art Deco museum · 1933 · Shirokanedai, Tokyo, Japan

Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum

The Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum is an art museum set within the former residence of Prince Asaka Yasuhiko in the Shirokanedai neighbourhood of Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Built in 1933 as the prince’s private mansion after his residence in Paris during the 1920s, the building is an outstanding example of French Art Deco interior design, with decorative elements created by the prestigious firm of Henri Rapin and glasswork by René Lalique. The museum opened to the public in 1983 and holds temporary exhibitions of decorative arts, design, and applied art, while the house itself — with its celebrated gardens — is the primary attraction for architectural historians and lovers of the interwar decorative tradition.

At a glance

Type: Art museum in a historic Art Deco mansion; temporary exhibitions of decorative arts
Period: Building constructed 1933; opened as museum 1983
Style: French Art Deco; interiors by Henri Rapin; glasswork by René Lalique
Location: 5-21-9 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0071, Japan
Coordinates: 35.6369° N, 139.7169° E

Overview

The Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum occupies the former residence of Prince Asaka Yasuhiko, a member of the Imperial Family who developed a deep appreciation for contemporary French design during his years in Paris in the late 1920s. The building, completed in 1933, represents one of the finest surviving examples of Art Deco interior architecture in Asia. Administered by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, the museum presents rotating temporary exhibitions of applied art and design while preserving the house and its landscaped gardens as a monument to the interwar decorative tradition.

History

Prince Asaka Yasuhiko (1887–1981) sustained serious injuries in a car accident in Paris in 1923 and spent over two years in France during his convalescence, absorbing the fashionable Art Deco aesthetic at its source. On his return to Japan he commissioned a new Tokyo residence drawing directly on French decorative models, with interiors designed by Henri Rapin — then a leading figure in the decorative arts — and glasswork commissioned from René Lalique, whose luminous panels and door inserts remain the house’s most celebrated features. The building was used as a residence by the Imperial Household Agency after 1947 before being transferred to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which opened it as a public museum in 1983.

What you see

The mansion’s reception rooms, dining room, and principal corridors retain their original Art Deco finishes: geometric parquet floors, lacquered walls, bespoke furniture, and the extraordinary Lalique glass panels set into doors and ceilings that give the interior its characteristic luminous quality. The garden, which extends across the rear of the property, combines Western formal planting with Japanese landscape elements and includes a traditional Japanese garden section with pond and teahouse. Temporary exhibitions are held in purpose-built gallery extensions that connect to the historic structure without altering it.

Cultural significance

The Teien Art Museum is one of Japan’s most significant Art Deco interiors, documenting the cultural exchanges between Taisho- and early Showa-era Japan and interwar Europe at the highest level of aristocratic patronage. Its Lalique glasswork constitutes an important body of work by one of France’s most celebrated decorative artists and a rare survival of luxury interior decoration from the 1930s anywhere in the world.

Practical information

Address: 5-21-9 Shirokanedai, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0071, Japan
Hours: Tuesday–Sunday 10:00–18:00 (last entry 17:30); open until 20:00 on Fridays and Saturdays. Closed Mondays and during exhibition changeovers. Check official website.
Admission: Paid entry; reduced rates available. Check official website for current prices.

Getting there

The museum is a short walk from Shirokanedai Station on the Tokyo Metro Namboku and Toei Mita lines. It is also accessible from Meguro Station on the JR Yamanote Line and Tokyo Metro Namboku Line, with a walk of approximately ten minutes through the tree-lined streets of Shirokanedai.

Sources & resources

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