After the Meiji restoration, the site was proclaimed the by Emperor Meiji, and continued to be used as a state guest house until the construction of the Rokumeikan. In 1879, Emperor Meiji received Crown Prince Frederick of Germany at the Hama-rikyū. Later that year, former United States President Ulysses Grant stayed for a month at the Hama-rikyū during his extended visit to Japan. The state guest house was demolished in 1889. The gardens burned during the 1923 Great Kanto earthquake and again in March 1945 during the Tokyo air raid. In November 1945, the Hama-rikyū was transferred from the Imperial Household Agency to Tokyo Metropolis and was opened as a public garden in April 1946. In 1952, it was designated as a Special National Historic Site and also as a Special Place of Scenic Beauty.