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Nikko NP, Tochigi
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Ambassadors raced yachts on Lake Chuzenji almost weekly, but the boats were practical too: they carried people between villas and even went shopping. The park’s pier recalls this old lakeside routine.
Architect Antonin Raymond later recalled that the villa was thought to have a life of only 10 years. Yet successive Italian ambassadors used it from 1928 until 1997—nearly 7 decades.
At the resort’s height, more than 40 villas belonging to traders and diplomatic missions stood around Lake Chuzenji. So many diplomats came for summer that people said the Foreign Ministry moved to Nikko.
Architect Antonin Raymond dressed this modern villa in local materials: cedar bark and boards held in place with split bamboo. The patterns change across the walls, making the building itself a showcase of local craft.
The villa’s 1st-floor living room, study and dining room form one open space, with a fireplace in both the study and dining area. This unusually open arrangement was a striking choice for its time.
The smaller building beside the main villa was built to house servants accompanying the ambassador. Today, that former staff residence is the International Summer Resort History Museum.
When the villa was restored, original floorboards, fittings and furniture were reused wherever possible. The dining room also displays tableware once used by the ambassadors who summered here.
The 4 upstairs bedrooms face Lake Chuzenji, and each had its own theme color, which residents used as its name. It’s a personal touch tucked behind the villa’s bold cedar-bark walls.
Raymond designed the broad veranda so the lake feels almost like an extension of the room. Its large windows line up with the water, making Lake Chuzenji feel less like a distant view and more like part of the home.
