The former Ito Hirobumi Kanazawa Villa is a country-style beachside villa with a thatched hipped roof built in 1898 by Hirobumi Ito, who served as the first Prime Minister. It is said that Hirobumi Ito built it because he liked the scenic Kanazawa area, and it was visited by Emperor Taisho and the Crown Prince of Korea.
During the Meiji period, the Kanazawa area, including Tomioka, attracted attention as a seaside villa area near Tokyo, and was home to Masayoshi Matsukata, the 4th and 6th Prime Minister, Kaoru Inoue, who served as Minister of Finance and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Kawai, a master of Japanese painting. Gyokudo and others set up villas there. After that, Oiso and Hayama flourished as villa areas, and Kanazawa ended its role. The former Ito Hirobumi Kanazawa Villa is one of the few valuable architectural remains of a villa area from that time.
In November 2006, it was designated as a Yokohama designated tangible cultural property, but due to the building's deterioration, it was demolished and surveyed in 2007, and the parts that no longer exist were replaced. It was decided to restore the building to its original appearance.
Construction began in June 2008 and was completed along with the garden in October 2009.
Inside the residence, materials and furniture related to Hirobumi Ito are on display. In addition, the garden offers a panoramic view of the ocean, and is open to the public as a place for citizens to relax and experience history and culture, where they can enjoy seasonal flowers such as the Kanazawa ward flower, the peony.
<Access> 5 minutes walk from Seaside Line "Nojima Koen" station
