Public Interest Incorporated Foundation The Tokugawa Museum (former Suifu-Meitokukai Foundation) was established by Kuniyuki Tokugawa, the thirteenth head of Mito Tokugawa family, one of the branches of the Tokugawa family, to preserve and exhibit the arts and the crafts as well as the documents passed down in the family. The Tokugawa Museum opened in 1997 as the museum of the foundation.

Its collection consists of around thirty thousand family treasures and thirty thousand old documents. The centerpiece of the collection are relics of Tokugawa Ieyasu – Samurai King – who unified Japan in the beginning of 17th century and established Tokugawa shogunate which brought 250 years of stability to Japan. The collection also contains treasures of heads of Mito Tokugawa family including Yorifusa (son of Ieyasu, the founder of Mito Tokugawa), Mitsukuni (the second family head), and their family members. Also in the collection are the original manuscript of “Dai Nihonshi“ (a history book of Japan compiled by the family which was started by Mitsukuni in 17th century and completed in the beginning of 20th century) and old documents collected from all over Japan for compiling the history book. All the documents are stored in Shokokan Bunko library located in the premise of the museum.

Not to mention the artistic and historical value of the articles, it is of great significance to have the whole collection continue to be preserved and maintained into the future as private collection of Tokugawa family.

The Genealogical Table of Tokugawa Families (PDF)