What Meiji Village Hongo Kinotoko Is
Meiji Village Hongo Kinotoko (明治村本郷喜之床) is a late Meiji barbershop building at the Museum Meiji-mura in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2004. It began life in the Hongo district of Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, trading under the shop name Kinotoko, and it was moved to Meiji-mura in 1980. It now stands in block 4 of the open-air museum.
The building is wooden and 2 stories high, with a building area of 47 square meters. The roof is Sangawara-buki, and the entrance sits on the long side parallel to the ridge, the arrangement known as Hirairi. The plan follows the Machiya townhouse type, with a frontage of 3 ken.
Almost the entire street face is glass. A pair of glass doors opens at the center, flanked on both sides by sliding glass windows. Sheet glass was still expensive at the time, and filling a shopfront with this much of it was a way of putting the work inside on display for anyone walking past.
Why Meiji Village Hongo Kinotoko Was Registered
Meiji Village Hongo Kinotoko was listed under the criterion for buildings that serve as a model of design, with the registration number 23-0101. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database records it as a townhouse of the late Meiji period.
What carries the value is the plan itself, which folds a trade and a household under one roof. The front half of the ground floor is the shop, and its ceiling is boarded in a Western manner. Behind it, 3 Japanese-style rooms are set in a staggered line as the family quarters. Upstairs are 2 rooms of 6 mats each, with a low armrest window and a railing across the front.
Few Meiji barbershops survive in anything like their original form, because a working shop is remodeled again and again. This one had been altered several times before it left Tokyo. During the move, carpenters traced the marks left in the posts and other members and restored the building to its earlier state.
What to Look For at Hongo Kinotoko
Stop at the glass front first. The sliding windows have slender mullions, and the eye travels straight through the shop to the back. Barbering was read at the time as a Western trade, and the transparent facade announced that newness to the street.
Once inside, look up. The house is a townhouse of Japanese rooms, yet the shop alone is finished with a Western boarded ceiling. The switch from one building culture to the other happens along a single line overhead.
The upstairs window repays attention as well. Its sill is set low, at a height where someone seated can rest an elbow on it and watch the street. The railing is there because the window was built to be leaned on.
The Upper Floor Where Ishikawa Takuboku Lived
The building is widely known because the poet Ishikawa Takuboku rented its upper floor. From 1909 to 1911 he lived in the 2 upstairs rooms with his family, having left lodging-house life behind to bring them to Tokyo.
His first collection of tanka, Ichiaku no Suna (A Handful of Sand), appeared in 1910 while he was living here.
A barbershop still trades on the original Tokyo site, and Bunkyo Ward signposts the spot in Hongo 2-chome as Takuboku's former residence. The building itself is at Meiji-mura. Inuyama is the only place where a visitor can stand below the actual rooms he used.
Visiting Meiji Village Hongo Kinotoko
Meiji Village Hongo Kinotoko stands inside the Museum Meiji-mura, so seeing it requires museum admission. Admission is 2,500 yen for adults, 1,500 yen for high school students, and 700 yen for elementary and junior high school students. Preschool children enter free.
Opening hours shift with the season. For most of the year the museum runs from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., and in winter from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Last admission is 30 minutes before closing. There are also periods of scheduled closure, so check the official opening calendar before travelling.
Private photography needs no permission. Tripods may not be used inside the buildings. The barbershop is in block 4, toward the southern end of the grounds.
By public transport, buses for Meiji-mura leave from the east exit of Meitetsu Inuyama Station, and direct buses also run from Nagoya Station and Sakae. Drivers reach the site 3 kilometers from the Komaki-higashi interchange on the Chuo Expressway, with parking just outside the north gate.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Aichi
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Meiji Village Hongo Kinotoko
- [ Nagoya Castle & Atsuta Shrine History Tours ]
Q&A
- Can you visit Meiji Village Hongo Kinotoko, and what does it cost?
- Yes, with admission to the Museum Meiji-mura. Admission is 2,500 yen for adults, 1,500 yen for high school students, and 700 yen for elementary and junior high school students. The museum is open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. for most of the year and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in winter.
- Can you go inside Meiji Village Hongo Kinotoko?
- The shop on the ground floor is open, and the Western boarded ceiling and shop fittings can be seen from inside. Some areas are roped off, and buildings occasionally close for repair, so follow the notices posted on the day.
- What is the connection between Ishikawa Takuboku and Meiji Village Hongo Kinotoko?
- The poet rented the 2 upstairs rooms and lived there with his family from 1909 to 1911. His first tanka collection, Ichiaku no Suna, was published in 1910 while he was living in the house.
- Is photography allowed at Meiji Village Hongo Kinotoko?
- Personal photography needs no permit. Tripods and monopods are not allowed inside the buildings, and any shooting for advertising or sale must be applied for in advance.
- Where did Meiji Village Hongo Kinotoko originally stand?
- In the Hongo district of Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo. It was moved to the Museum Meiji-mura in 1980. A barbershop still operates on the original plot, which Bunkyo Ward signposts as Ishikawa Takuboku's former residence.
Basic Information
| Name | Meiji Village Hongo Kinotoko |
|---|---|
| Location | Museum Meiji-mura, 1 Uchiyama, Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2004 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 47 square meters, wooden, 2 stories |
| Owner | Meiji Mura Public Interest Foundation |
| Public Access | Open to the public, museum admission required |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Meiji Village Hongo Kinotoko (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003867
- Cultural Heritage Online, Meiji Village Hongo Kinotoko
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/116947
- Museum Meiji-mura, Hongo Kinotoko
- https://www.meijimura.com/sight/%E6%9C%AC%E9%83%B7%E5%96%9C%E4%B9%8B%E5%BA%8A/
- Museum Meiji-mura, Opening Calendar
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/open/
- Museum Meiji-mura, Admission and Fees
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/price/
- Bunkyo Ward, Site of Ishikawa Takuboku's Kinotoko Residence
- https://www.city.bunkyo.lg.jp/bunka/kanko/spot/ato/kinotoko.html
Last verified: 2026.09.03