The Tokugawa Art Museum was opened in 1935, on the basis of a donation made by Marquis Tokugawa Yoshichika, the 19th generation head of the Owari Tokugawa Family. The collection holds more than 10,000 artworks, that were passed down in the Owari Family, the largest of the “Three Houses of the Tokugawa Clan” which reigned, during the Edo period, the Owari and the surrounding region as the lord with approximately 620,000 koku (a volume measurement) of rice production.

The collection consists of the bequests of Tokugawa Ieyasu (the founder of the Edo Shogunate) as a core, and includes the treasures that have been accumulated by Tokugawa Yoshinao (the ninth son of Ieyasu and the first lord of Owari) as well as by the successive generations in the Family.

The Museum is justifiably proud of the variety, quality, and sate of preservation of its treasures. In particular, it boasts 9 items designated as National Treasures, including the world-famous twelfth-century Tale of Genji Illustrated Scrolls, 59 objects designated as Important Cultural Properties, and 46 artworks selected as Important Art Objects.