Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Gardens

British architect Josiah Conder, known for the Rokumeikan, designed this mansion built in 1896. Its wooden, Western-style architecture represented modern Japan. It was constructed as the official residence for Hisaya Iwasaki, first son of Yataro Iwasaki, founder of Mitsui Zaibatsu (one of three such financial conglomerates in Japan). Today, only one-third of the original site remains: the Western-style building, billiard hall and Japanese-style building. The billiard hall was designed like a Swiss lodge, which was quite rare in those days; its basement connects with the Western-style building. The Japanese-style building, connecting with the Western one, adopts a traditional technique called shoin-zukuri. On the alcove and fusuma (partition doors) are works ostensibly by Gahou Hashimoto, a notable Meiji-Era painter. In 1999, the entire building and its survey drawings became Important Cultural Properties. A three-minute walk from Yushima Station on the Chiyoda Line.