Photo/Illutration The Western-style building in Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden in Tokyo’s Taito Ward (Michinori Ishidaira)

A famed garden in Tokyo is battling the hordes of visitors who want to use the buildings on the site for model shoots, saying such photo opportunities are forbidden. 

The manager of Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden in Tokyo's Taito Ward is upset that many people enter the buildings with photographers to snap photos of models to be posted on social media.

"Because models repeatedly pose for photos on the same spot in the buildings, they could bump into other visitors," said Yumi Suzuki, head of the service center of the garden. "Or their cameras could damage the buildings. We will have no choice but to ban photographing in our buildings to protect them if people keep doing model photo shoots here.”

Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden is a former residence of the Iwasaki family, the founding family of the Mitsubishi zaibatsu conglomerate. It is operated by the Tokyo metropolitan government and designated as an important cultural property by the central government.

On Twitter and Instagram, there are many photographs posted of women in kimono or dresses posing on verandas or in guest rooms in buildings of Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden.

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A tweet by the manager of Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden dated Sept. 12 says that visitors “are banned from doing photo shooting which is mainly for taking pictures of persons or things (model photo shooting).” (Fom the Twitter account of Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden)

That prompted Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden on Sept. 12 to tweet on its official Twitter account, “Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden is mainly intended to be looked at. You are banned from doing photo shoots whose main purpose is to take pictures of persons or things (namely model photo shooting).”

Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden was built in 1896 as a residence for Hisaya Iwasaki, the eldest son of Yataro Iwasaki, the founder of the Mitsubishi group.

The entire premises spanning about 18,000 square meters are designated as an important cultural property.

One of the buildings on the site is a cream-colored, Western-style wooden building designed by Josiah Conder, a British architect, whose works included the famed Rokumeikan building.

There are also a Japanese-style building and a billiard hall on the premises. These old buildings all convey the ambience of the past.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Park Association, which manages Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden, bans photo shooting when the main purpose is taking pictures of people, including models. 

The rule is intended to prevent an accident and to protect the properties.

Taking photos of the interior of the buildings is allowed on weekdays, but not on weekends or national holidays when many visitors are expected.

Taking celebratory photos in the buildings for weddings, coming-of-age ceremonies or "Shichi-Go-San," a traditional Japanese festival for children, is permitted for a fee.

The more Kyu-Iwasaki-tei Garden is raved about on the internet as “a popular site that looks good on Instagram,” the more model photographs taken there have been uploaded on social media accounts.

Staff members stop the shoots when they see visitors taking such photographs.

However, some people secretly change into costumes, such as a kimono, in a restroom to avoid detection by staff members before shooting photos.

Others are angered at the restriction and even bark at employees, saying, “Why can’t I take photos here? Instagram is full of photos of this place.”

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