A Working Townhouse in Inuyama's Old Merchant Quarter
Walk southeast from Inuyama Castle, past the point where the old Yosaka gate once controlled traffic into the town, and you reach a quieter stretch of the former castle town. Here, facing south onto the street, stands the main house of the Sahashi family. Local people know it better by its shop name, Toraya, a caterer that has been preparing food for Inuyama households since 1871.
The building you see today went up in the middle of the Meiji period, somewhere between the 1880s and the turn of the century. It is a two-story wooden machiya, a merchant's townhouse of the kind that once lined these streets in their hundreds. Most have gone. This one remains in daily use, which is part of why it earned national recognition.
In December 2007 the house was entered on Japan's register of Tangible Cultural Properties as registration number 23-0271. That status is worth pausing on, because it is not the same as the "designation" given to a National Treasure or an Important Cultural Property.
Registered, Not Designated: What the Status Means
Japan runs two parallel systems for protecting old buildings. The older one, designation, singles out structures of the very highest historical or artistic rank and places them under strict controls. The newer one, registration, was introduced in 1996 to catch a wider net of buildings that shape the character of a place but might not survive on their own. Registration is lighter in its restrictions and is meant to encourage owners to keep using and maintaining their properties rather than freezing them in time.
The Sahashi house was registered under the criterion that it contributes to the historic landscape of the country. In plain terms, the value lies less in any single rare feature than in what the house does for the street as a whole. It holds the line of the old townscape, giving visitors a sense of how a working merchant block in a castle town actually looked and functioned.
Several neighbouring houses carry the same status, among them the Kojima, Okumura, and Ozeki residences. Together they form a thread of surviving Meiji and earlier architecture running through the modern town.
What to Look For From the Street
The frontage measures five bays across and the building runs seven and a half bays deep, roughly nine metres wide and close to fourteen deep, with a total floor area of about 170 square metres. The roof is gabled, laid with pantiles, and the entrance sits on the long eaves side rather than the gable end, the standard arrangement for a town merchant's house.
The detail to watch for is on the upper floor. Across the central four bays of the second story runs a row of windows fronted by a low balustrade, an unusually open and decorative treatment for a façade of this date. The two end bays are finished instead in black plaster, a dark frame that sets off the lighter central span. The contrast gives the front a deliberate rhythm that rewards a moment's pause on the opposite side of the street.
One practical point. The house is a private home and a working catering business, not a museum. There is no interior tour and no public opening hours for the building itself. The pleasure here is the exterior, best appreciated as you walk the block and read it against its neighbours.
Around the Castle Town
The Sahashi house sits within easy walking distance of Inuyama's main attractions, so it fits naturally into a half-day on foot. The obvious anchor is Inuyama Castle, whose keep is one of only five in the country ranked as a National Treasure and one of a handful of original keeps to survive from the feudal era. It looks out over the Kiso River from a low bluff at the north end of town.
Between the castle and the Sahashi house runs Honmachi-dori, the spine of the old castle town, now lined with cafes, sweet shops, and converted machiya. The Former Isobe Residence, a registered townhouse a short way along this street, is open to the public without charge and lets you step inside a building closely related in type to the Sahashi house, including a rare convex curved roof.
Look out too for the tall storehouses near the Sahashi house that hold the festival floats, or dashi, used in the Inuyama Festival each spring. The festival's float procession is recognised among Japan's registered float events and was inscribed by UNESCO in 2016 as part of a group of traditional float festivals. The three-tiered floats carry mechanical puppets that perform as the wagons are hauled through these same streets.
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Q&A
- Can I go inside the Sahashi Family Residence?
- No. The house is a private residence and an operating catering business known as Toraya. It is not open for tours and has no visitor hours. You can view and photograph the exterior freely from the public street.
- How is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property different from a National Treasure?
- Registration is a lighter form of protection introduced in 1996 for buildings that contribute to the character of a place. National Treasures and Important Cultural Properties are "designated" under a stricter, older system reserved for the highest-ranked structures. The Sahashi house is registered, not designated.
- How old is the building?
- It dates to the middle of the Meiji period, recorded by the national database within the broad range of 1868 to 1911. The Toraya catering business that occupies it was founded in 1871.
- How do I get there?
- The house stands in the eastern part of the old castle town, off the route between Inuyama Station and Inuyama Castle. It is roughly a ten-minute walk from Inuyama Station on the Meitetsu line, which connects directly to Nagoya.
- Is it worth a special trip?
- On its own it is a brief stop, since you only see the outside. It is best treated as one detail among many on a walk through the castle town, alongside Inuyama Castle, Honmachi-dori, and the publicly accessible Former Isobe Residence.
Basic Information
| Name | Sahashi Family Residence Main House (Sahashi-ke Jutaku Shuoku) |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Toraya |
| Location | 457 Higashikoken, Oaza Inuyama, Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture |
| Classification | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building), registration no. 23-0271 |
| Registered | 5 December 2007 (announced 19 December 2007) |
| Period | Mid-Meiji period (1868–1911) |
| Count | 1 building |
| Structure | Wood, two stories; gabled pantile roof; five bays wide by seven and a half bays deep; floor area approx. 170 m² |
| Registration criterion | Contributing to the nation's historic landscape |
| Public access | Private residence and working business; exterior viewable from the street; no interior visiting |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00006611
- Cultural Properties of Inuyama City (Inuyama City)
- https://www.city.inuyama.aichi.jp/kurashi/bunka/1001063/1001068.html
- Cultural Property Navi Aichi (Aichi Prefecture)
- https://pref.aichi.jp/kyoiku/bunka/bunkazainavi/
Last verified: 2026.06.17