戸定邸―徳川十五代将軍慶喜の弟、昭武の邸宅、令和五年十月六日探訪

徳川昭武は、徳川幕府第十五代将軍慶喜の弟。1867年には、慶喜の名代としてパリ万国博覧会に派遣されている。世が世であったなら、慶喜の跡を継いで十六代将軍となる資格を有していたが、大政奉還・明治維新によって徳川幕府の支配は幕を閉じ、幻の将軍となった。その後、昭武は松戸の地に土地を購入し、明治十七（1884）年に邸宅を建造する。その邸宅は現在、国の重要文化財に指定されており、国内では唯一一般公開されている徳川家の邸宅である。庭に面する広間は、天気の良い日には富士山が見えるように設計されているが、残念ながら今は、その後建てられた高層ビルの陰に隠れて一部しか見えない。それでも、邸宅の内外や庭園は一見の価値があると考える。（Tokugawa Akitake's Residence, visited Oct. 6 last year: Tokugawa Akitake was a younger brother of Tokugawa Yoshinobu, the fifteenth--and last--Shogun of the Tokugawa BAKUFU [warrior government], which ruled Japan 1600-1868. Akitake led the Japanese delegation to the World Exposition in Paris in 1867 on behalf of Yoshinobu. Although he was a designated successor to his older brother as Shogun, he could not assume that position since a series of political events in 1867-68 that ended the Tokugawa BAKUFU's rule and initiated the rule by the new Imperial government. Thereafter, Akitake purchased an estate in Matsudo, Chiba Prefecture, and had a residence built in 1884. The residence--designated as an important cultural asset by the Japanese government--is the only housing of the Tokugawa family member open to the public. The hall facing the garden was designed so that viewers can see Mt. Fuji in distance under fine weather. Unfortunately, however, a high-rise building constructed recently partially blocks that landscape today. Yet, outer and inner structures of the residence as well as its garden are worth seeing.）