Former Marquis Maeda Main Residence | Meguro-ku Sightseeing and Disaster Prevention Portal

History: Komaba Park, which has the second largest area in Meguro Ward Park, is the site of the former Maeda family's Marquis Maeda Komaba residence, which was the head of Kaga Hyakumangoku (now Ishikawa and Toyama prefectures).

It used to be Hongo as its main residence, but after the Great Kanto Earthquake, it moved to Komaba by equivalent exchange with Tokyo Imperial University (now the University of Tokyo).

The building is a collection of the best of both Japanese and Western architecture in the early Showa period.The Western-style building with decorative bricks and tiles was completed in 1945, and the Japanese-style building built by Shoin was completed in 1945. A mysterious backyard with famous stones and a lawn plaza were set up. It is said that the Japanese-style building was built for entertaining foreign guests because the Marquis was a military attaché in London.

This graceful mansion, which became a spectacular social gathering place, fell into the hands of private individuals after the death of Marquis Maeda during World War II and was requisitioned by the occupation forces at the end of the war.

The requisition was lifted in October 1957, and most of the site, which was once again owned by the private sector, was used as the official residence of the Allied Commander for 12 years until the government bought it.

The current park was opened by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government as a park in 1967, and was transferred to Meguro Ward in April 1975.

On August 7, 2013, buildings such as Western-style buildings and Japanese-style buildings and the land around the area were evaluated as having high value as an expression of the life image of aristocrats in the early Showa period, and are designated as national important cultural properties. It was designated as the "former Maeda family main residence".