Structures Designated as
Nationally Important Cultural Property
Nationally Designated
Important Cultural Property

The Palace
Otsunegoten was built inFormer Residenceof Prince Kuni

1924 as Prince Kuniʼ s private
residence. The total size of thebuilding is 420 m2. It was designedin the Irimoya (half-hipped roof)
style, and partially in the Kirizuma(gabled roof) style by the Japanesearchitect Matsunosuke Moriyama
and constructed by Toyokichi
Yokomizo. It is a Japanese-styleimperial architecture with aTaiwanese ﬂavor.

University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo

The Small Dining Room ispart of the original main building built
in 1918. The total size of the building
is 291 m2. The construction specialists
retained by the Princeʼ s family
designed it in the Irimoya style. Inside
the building, one will ﬁnd magniﬁcent
interior decorations, distinctive of theimperial architecture in the Taisho
period.

The Kuni House
The carriage porch wascompleted in 1918 as the front entranceof the original main building, and has
remained in the same place since its
installation, even though theprincipal parts of the main building
were destroyed due to ﬁre. Princess
Nagako of the House of Prince Kuni,
who would become Empress Kojun,
left the residence from this porch on
her way to her wedding with thefuture Emperor Showa.

The former residence of Prince Kuni

The Main Gate
Completed in 1918, the Main
Gate is a Yakuimon-style gate in which
both the main front pillars and the rear
support pillars are covered by a single
tiled roof with Sodebei lower walls
extended to the right and left. It now
serves as the universityʼ s main gate.

〒150-8938

東京都渋谷区広尾4-3-1

TEL .03-3407-5811（代表）http://www.u-sacred-heart.ac.jp

is the only existing Japanese-style principal residenceof an Imperial Family member. Recognized for its“excellent design” and “high academic values” in lightof the history of the Japanese imperial architecture,
it was designated by the Japanese government as animportant cultural property in 2017.
The designation includes
and the Small
Dining Room, which are collectively called thePalace, the Main Gate, and the Carriage Porch as asupplement.

The Palace: Former Residenceof Prince Kuni

Otsunegoten , 1st ﬂoor

Otsunegoten and Small Dining Room

EastLiving roomStudy▲Cusped-arch window
in the private audienceroom

Bedroom

Anteroom

Bedroom

Passage withstraw matsPrivateaudienceroom

The Princess’s
Anteroom living room

The Princess’s
study
KitchenWashroom

Dress room

Powder room
Storage closet▲Taiwanese-styleceiling in theprivate audience room

Bathroom

Late Edo The suburban residence of the Hotta family from theperiod
Sakura domain, Shimousa Province (northern Chiba andwestern Ibaraki), was located on the university premises.
1875

The House of Prince Kuni was founded.

1916

Prince Kuni Kuniyoshi received the land in Hiroo tobuild his residence. Hiroo became an imperial estate.

1918

The main building, including the Small Dining Room andthe Carriage Porch, was completed.

1918

The Main Gate was completed.

1919

The Western-style building was destroyed due to ﬁre.

1924

was completed in the site where theWestern-style building was located.

1945

The land came under government control and the building
became the possession of Daiei Motion Picture Company
since the House of Prince Kuni lost its imperial status after
the end of World War II.

1947

The University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo obtained thebuilding.

Tea roomOtsunegoten, 2nd ﬂoor
The second ﬂoor is characterized by a mixtureof the Japanese and Western syle architecturewith Taiwanese elements added by the architect
Moriyama. The zelkova boards used in the hallways
on the south side and the camphor ﬂooring in theprivate audience room remind us of the past. The
study and anteroom still have beautiful parquet
ﬂooring as well as the shelves for books andrecords.

The ﬁrst ﬂoor is coordinated in the Japanese style. On
the east side, there are ﬁve main rooms, surroundedon the south, north and east by corridors made oftatami straw mats. Tokonoma alcoves and staggered
shelves are placed with other decorations typical ofthe traditional Japanese Shoinzukuri architectural
style. Other traditional Japanese interior decorations,such as carved wooden panels as transoms anddecorative nailhead covers, as well as high ceilings
typically found in the Japanese imperial architecture,
serve to enhance the elegance of the rooms.
The ceilings of the Palace are decorated withreproductions of 78 paintings drawn by 43 famous
Japanese artists. Sixty pieces can be seen on theceilings of Prince and Princess Kuniʼ s bedrooms. (Theoriginals are now kept at the Tokyo National Museum.)On the west of the main rooms are the dress room,
the powder room, and the bathroom. You can ﬁnd
the traces of the past days here and there although
the building was refurbished after relocation so thatit could be used for student activities.

History of Former Residence of Prince Kuni
and the University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo

Small Dining Room and Anteroom

Anteroom

Small Dining Room

West

▲The study on the second ﬂoor of◀Fixtures reportedly usedby Empress Kojun

The Small Dining Room has parquet ﬂooring and theformal coffered ceiling is decorated with 18 drawings
slightly larger than those in the Otsunegoten bedrooms.
Along the wall on the east side are a Western-stylemarble mantelpiece at the center, a Chinese-inspired
cusped-arch window on the right, and Japanese
staggered shelves with upper and lower storages on theleft. Members of the university community used to callit the audience room for years due to its magniﬁcent
interior decorations that reminds us of the imperial
architecture in theTaisho period. In
the anteroom,
persimmons are
skillfully drawn
across the fusuma
sliding doors on
the south and east
▲The wall on the east side of thesides.
Small Dining Room

1948-54 The University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo spent several
years to purchase the government-controlled land.
1948

The University of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo was establishedunder the new educational system.

1949

and the Small Dining Room were moved totheir present location from the original site where theUniversityʼs Building No. 1 is now located.

1986

The Palace was restored to its original state.

1998

Britt Room and Kuni Gallery were created in Kuni House
when Building No. 3 was built.

2000

was designated as a Registered Tangible
Cultural Property.

2001

The ceiling paintings in the Palace were placed in thecustody of the Tokyo National Museum.

2016

The large-scale restoration and seismic reinforcement
works were ﬁnished for the Palace and Kuni House.

2017

The Small Dining Room,and the Main Gate,along with the Carriage Porch as a supplement, weredesignated as a Nationally Important Cultural Property.

Artistic highlights of the Palace
Paintings on the ceilings, cedar doors, and fusuma sliding partitions, which were drawn
by talented painters in the Taisho period
Beautiful nailhead covers and handles of the partitions in the shapes ofchrysanthemums, the symbol of the Imperial Family
Different wooden transom panels with traditional ﬁne carvings and handiwork foreach room
Precious wood used for room decoration and ﬂooring
Windows in different shapes
Glass windows dating back to the days when the building was ﬁrst constructed▲Formal coﬀered ceiling of the Small Dining Room▲South corridor on the second ﬂoor of