The Tokugawa Art Museum houses many masterpieces of the Owari Tokugawa family, including the belongings of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the founder of the Edo shogunate. The museum houses many national treasures and important cultural assets, including the world-famous national treasure picture scroll "The Tale of Genji Illustrated Scrolls," and more than 10,000 other items in its collection. Visitors can experience the Daimyo Culture (culture of the feudal lords) that reigned during the Edo Period by viewing these masterpieces, which have been carefully preserved by the Owari-Tokugawa family.

The Tokugawa Art Museum opened in 1935. The museum consists of two buildings: the main building (a registered tangible cultural property), which has remained unchanged since its opening, and a new building completed in 1987; combined, these two buildings house exhibition galleries one through nine.
The new building was built to pay homage to Nagoya Castle, and the inside is a partial reproduction of the Ninomaru Palace of Nagoya Castle. Accordingly, visitors can appreciate the artifacts and the way they were used in a similar environment to people of the time.
The new building comprises exhibition rooms one to six, with the first exhibition hall devoted to symbolic relics of the samurai such as arms and swords. The second hall shows the “Chanoyu” world of tea ceremony, important for official samurai events, and the third room reproduces the hall where the feudal lords conducted government affairs and the "Kusarinoma (tea room)” which was used for entertaining guests.

The fourth exhibition room is a reproduction of the Noh stage in the Ninomaru Palace of Nagoya Castle, and features costumes and tools used in Noh, the ceremonial performance of the samurai class.
In the fifth room, there are "Oku tools," which were used in the Oku (private living quarters) of the feudal lords.
In the sixth gallery, the national treasure "The Tale of Genji Illustrated Scroll" (replica), a painting of the Tale of Genji written by Murasaki Shikibu, is on display. Because the display of the original Tale of Genji scroll is limited to a very short period, the Tale of Genji is often presented in reproductions and on film.

Visitors can be immersed in the atmosphere of the era by viewing the exhibits, the works of art, in the space where they were actually used. The exhibited items are changed approximately every month.

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The main building, which houses galleries seven to nine, was introduced to the European architectural community as an innovative museum with modern facilities when it opened. Today, the building is registered as a tangible cultural property of Japan as a representative example of Japanese museum architecture from the early Showa Era. The exterior and entrance remain almost exactly as created in those days, and the interior of the main building exudes a unique and dignified atmosphere.
In collaboration with the neighboring Nagoya Hosa Library Exhibition Hall, special exhibitions on various themes are held throughout the year. The exhibits are designed to facilitate a deeper understanding of the culture and life of the feudal lords, while incorporating the latest research findings, so that visitors can discover something new each time they visit.