The imperial family's largest wooden villa, relocated to Nikko in 1899, with 106 rooms and century-old gardens; entry 550 ¥.
The Tamozawa Imperial Villa Memorial Park is one of the most complete and intimate historic imperial residences in Japan, a 5.861-square-metre mansion that combines elements of several Edo- and Meiji-period structures moved to this site when Emperor Meiji chose Nikko as a summer residence in 1899. The villa has 106 rooms in three distinct architectural styles: the Meiji wing with its Westernised tatami rooms and European mouldings, the Edo wing with more classic hinoki-wood and shoji architecture, and the service areas with their inner gardens. Among its most illustrious residents was Emperor Taisho, who spent the final years of his life here before dying in 1926. The 29.000 m² garden has century-old plum trees, bamboo, a stream and a pond with colourful carp. Entry costs 550 ¥. Hours: 9:00-16:30, closed on Tuesdays. It is a ten-minute walk from Tobu-Nikko station, in the opposite direction from the Toshogu.
