The Edo Period in Japan (1603 – 1868) witnessed the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate, a form of generational military government. In 1654, Tsunashige Matsudaira, a brother of the fourth shogun Tokugawa Ietsuna, developed swampland along the bay for his beach mansion. He called it Kofu Hama-yashiki. Successive members of the dynasty expanded the grounds as a seasonal residence from Edo Castle. When the Meiji Period began in 1868, the Imperial Family acquired the property and called it Hama-rikyu. After WWII, Hama-rikyu Gardens was restored and opened to the public in 1946.
