Seizanso

Published: Aug 11, 2026

Updated: Aug 11, 2026

SeizansoTokugawa MitsukuniMito Komonretirement villaHitachiota

Representative image — not a photograph of this location.

Tokugawa Mitsukuni is one of the most recognisable figures in Japan — as Mito Komon, the disguised elderly lord of a long-running television series, he is known to essentially everyone over forty. The historical man retired from the lordship of Mito in 1691 and spent his last nine years here, in a deliberately plain thatched house in the hills of Hitachiota, supervising the compilation of the Dai Nihonshi, the vast history of Japan that his domain worked on for two and a half centuries.

The house is small and unshowy on purpose. What surrounds it is not: a hillside garden of moss, stream and old trees that is at its best in late autumn. It is still owned by the Tokugawa family, which is part of why the admission is high for what is a modest building — and also why it has not been turned into anything else.

Essential Information

Opening Hours

9:00 AM – 4:00 PM | Last entry 3:30 PM

Closed: Open year-round | Occasional closures in severe weather

Entrance Fee

¥1,200 adults | ¥900 elementary and junior high school students | Group rates for 30 or more

Best Season

Late November for autumn colour in the garden | Fresh green in May

Visit Duration

60–90 minutes

Getting There

Access Information

Shinjuku-cho, Hitachiota. Car recommended. Open 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM, with last entry 30 minutes before closing. Admission ¥1,200 adults and ¥900 for elementary and junior high school students, with group rates for parties of 30 or more. Open year-round, with occasional closures in severe weather.

Insider Guide

Premium

**Understand who lived here before you pay.** ¥1,200 for a small thatched house is only worth it if you know that this is where the Dai Nihonshi was overseen and that the man in question is a household name in Japan. Ten minutes of background transforms the visit. **The garden is the larger half.** Moss, a stream and mature trees on a hillside, laid out to be walked. Late November is the peak; the house alone would not justify the trip. **Four o'clock is a hard close.** Last entry is 3:30 PM and the site is out in the hills. Do not leave this to the end of a day. **Pair it with Ryujin.** The suspension bridge is about forty minutes further into the same hills, and the two make a full day out of Hitachiota, a city that otherwise sees no visitors at all.

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