From Daimyo’s Castle to Duke’s Mansion 大名の城から公爵の邸宅へ

The mansion was designed by the Japanese architect Hara Takesaburo. A large and complex structure, the way it combines traditional, high-quality materials with all the most up-to-date conveniences defines it as a masterpiece of modern Japanese architecture. Of a total of sixty rooms, just two are Western-style.

Two Family Crests

Throughout the mansion, you will encounter the two crests of the Mohri clan. If you look up as you enter the porte-cochère, you will see both the ichi-ni-mitsuboshi (a single horizontal line above three circles) and the omodaka (three-leaf arrowhead). These crests are repeated throughout the house on everything from lighting fixtures to sliding door pulls.

Precious Woods and Ancient Trees

The ceiling panels of the porte-cochère are made of zelkova with a beautiful grain, and the whole house is full of rare and precious woods that communicate the wealth and status of the Mohri family. The floor of the first corridor in the house, for example, is made of two slabs of Taiwanese zelkova, each around eight meters long and 1.5 meters wide. For the pillars and the lateral beams, hinoki cypress from Kiso is used. Meanwhile, the sliding doors in the reception rooms are made of Yakusugi, 1,000-year-old cedar from the island of Yakushima.

A Guest Wing Fit for an Emperor

The grandest section of the house—and the only part that is two stories high—is the guest wing (kyakuma-to), which was built specifically to host visits from important people, including even the emperor. It consists of three linked reception rooms (ohiroma) with intricate coffered ceilings. A discreet passage leads from the reception room to the guest bedroom behind enabling the emperor or other important visitors to move from private to public space without encountering anyone else. The mansion was inhabited for fifty years, from 1916 to 1966. Over that time it received a total of three imperial visits, one from Emperor Taisho and two from Emperor Showa (Hirohito).

Room with a View

The second story of the guest wing is reached by way of a massive staircase, with three landings and steps made of a single block of hinoki cypress each. More modest in scale and casual in design, this upper floor with its magnificent view over the garden is where the guests came to relax.

More things to look out for in the Mohri Principal Residence (Link to #10.)