High on a hill in Tokyo's central Mita district, the Australian Embassy is easy to spot. Two national coats of arms bolted to the outside of the building feature oversize images of emus and kangaroos, designated as symbols of this self-styled progressive nation because they supposedly can't walk backwards.

But ambling into the history of the embassy site is fair dinkum fascinating. During the Edo Period (1603-1867), the ruling Tokugawa Shogunate required the nation's wealthy lords to maintain a residence in Edo (present-day Tokyo).

The Hachisuka clan from Tokushima in Shikoku was no exception; their Edo residence was situated on land now owned by the Australian government.