Former Imai Family Residence

A Former Kimono Shop on Shinmachi Street

The Former Imai Family Residence (旧今井家住宅, Kyū Imai-ke Jūtaku) is a Meiji-era merchant house in Shinmachi, Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture, whose mid-Meiji main house, late-Meiji parlor wing and 1892 storehouse were registered together as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on December 5, 2019. Sakura City owns the property today.

The house stands in what was the townspeople's quarter of the old Sakura castle town, on the north side of Shinmachi Street. According to Sakura City, the Imai family ran a kimono and textile business here from around the middle of the Meiji period under the trade name Surugaya. City materials also identify the plot as the former site of the Aburaya, an inn where Katsura Kogorō, the Chōshū samurai later known as Kido Takayoshi, stayed in the last years of the shogunate.

What makes the Former Imai Family Residence worth a detour is its completeness on a small scale. The shop that faced the street, the rooms where guests were received and the fireproof storehouse behind them all survive on one plot, laid out as a Meiji merchant would have used it.

Three Buildings Stepping Back from the Street

The lot is a long, narrow strip running north from Shinmachi Street; the city's 2019 plan puts its area at 840.15 square metres. The three buildings line up one behind another: main house, parlor wing, storehouse.

The main house faces south onto the street and served as both shop and home. Its entrance is on the gable end, the street-side roof is hipped, and a deep lean-to roof (a Geya) projects over the front. At the back the roof becomes a simple gable, and the parlor wing attaches there. That wing, a single-storey block running north to south, holds the finely finished rooms where the family entertained. Further back, in the middle of the plot, the two-storey storehouse sits on the same north-south axis with its own lean-to sheltering the door on the south side.

Shop at the front, reception rooms behind, valuables at the back: the sequence shows how a castle-town merchant made use of a deep, narrow plot.

The Three Registrations and Their Dates

The three registrations carry consecutive numbers, 12-0294 to 12-0296. The main house and the storehouse were listed as contributing to the historic landscape of the country, and the parlor wing as a model of architectural form. The Chiba Prefectural Board of Education lists the set as the main house and two other buildings, registered on December 5, 2019.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates the main house to the mid-Meiji period, somewhere between 1883 and 1897, with alterations in the late Meiji period; the parlor wing to the late Meiji period, between 1898 and 1912; and the storehouse to 1892, with repairs in 2011. Sakura City's 2019 plan, however, describes the parlor wing as a mid-Meiji building that was moved to this site in the late Meiji period, so the sources do not agree on when it was first built.

The city intends the house to serve as a base for visitors and local residents, and carried out seismic strengthening in fiscal 2024. Before that work, in December 2023, the house hosted a koji-making workshop advertised on the city's website.

Visiting

The Former Imai Family Residence is now run as a restaurant by an operator chosen through a public call. According to a Sakura City announcement, it opened on February 18, 2026, under the name Mugitoro Surugaya, a nod to the Imai family's old trade name, which is pronounced the same way.

There are no museum opening days or admission fees; the interiors can be seen only by visiting the restaurant during business hours. At opening, the city announced lunch service from Wednesday to Saturday, dinner on Fridays and Saturdays, and closure from Sunday to Tuesday. Hours may change, so check before you go.

The front of the main house can be seen from Shinmachi Street at any time. Stand on the far side of the street to take in the whole single-storey shopfront, with its hipped roof and deep lean-to. Please view it from the pavement and keep clear of the restaurant entrance.

Getting There

The nearest station is Keisei Sakura on the Keisei Main Line, about 10 minutes on foot to the south. From JR Sakura Station, take a Chiba Green Bus from the north exit to the Nibancho or Yokomachi stop, then walk 3 to 4 minutes. Buses from the south exit of Keisei Sakura Station also stop at Sakura City Museum of Art, Shinmachi and Sakura Elementary School Entrance, each 2 to 3 minutes' walk away.

The Sakura City Museum of Art stands on the same street, so the house fits easily into a walk along the old castle-town road.