A farmhouse with a room for an official
Furusato Travel Village Former Ishimaru Family Residence Main House (ふるさと旅行村旧石丸家住宅主屋) is a thatched Edo-period farmhouse in the Shimohatanogawa district of Kumakogen Town, Ehime Prefecture, and it was placed on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 31 January 2003.
No dated ridge tablet survives for the building. The Agency for Cultural Affairs assigns it to the later Edo period, roughly the century between 1751 and 1829, on the evidence of its structure and its detailing. That makes it the oldest of the five registered buildings standing in Kumakogen Furusato Travel Village, and by a wide margin: the next in line went up in 1870.
The house is single-storey, timber-framed, roofed in Kayabuki, and covers 137 square metres. It was dismantled and re-erected on the present site in 1977, the first year of a programme that eventually brought five vernacular buildings together in these grounds.
The great room, and who slept in it
Inside there is a Zashiki of twelve Tatami mats. In a farmhouse that is a statement. Twelve mats is reception-room scale, the size a household builds when it expects to receive someone it cannot seat in the everyday living space, and it eats up floor area that a working family would otherwise put to storage or sleeping.
The explanation recorded with the registration is that the domain held forest land directly, close to where the house originally stood. Local tradition, as gathered by the surveyors, holds that when the Daikan came up from the lowlands to inspect that forest, this was where he stayed the night. The tradition cannot be checked against a document, and the Agency's entry itself presents it as something handed down rather than established. What is not in doubt is the room, and the fact that somebody built it.
Furusato Travel Village Former Ishimaru Family Residence Main House therefore sits at the top of the rural social order rather than in the middle of it. The register describes it as showing how the upper stratum of the farming population lived in the Edo period.
What to look at
The thatch is the first thing anyone notices, and the roof is worth circling. Thatch of this depth is laid, trimmed and periodically re-laid by hand; the ridge, the eaves line and the way the surface turns at the corners all repay a slow look, and they change as the covering ages.
Inside, if the building is open on the day of your visit, compare the twelve-mat room with the earthen-floored working half of the house. The contrast between a formal floor laid with mats and a beaten Doma where the household actually did its work is the clearest reading of Edo-period rural hierarchy available anywhere on this site.
One more comparison is available without moving far. The two other dwellings in the grounds, the former Watanabe farmhouse and the small retirement house, both belong to the Meiji era, which began in 1868. Standing between them and Furusato Travel Village Former Ishimaru Family Residence Main House gives a rough century of change in one glance: proportions, the height of the eaves, the treatment of the walls.
Visiting
Furusato Travel Village Former Ishimaru Family Residence Main House stands in the grounds of Kumakogen Furusato Travel Village at 488 Otsu, Shimohatanogawa, Kumakogen Town. The town owns the site; a local company has operated it under contract since 2023. The office is staffed from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., telephone 0892-41-0711.
There is a winter closure. In the 2026 season the site's facilities ran from early April to mid or late November depending on the type, so a visit in the colder months requires a call in advance. The published fee list covers camping, cottages and activities; it sets no admission charge for the registered buildings, and no regular interior opening is advertised. Ask at the office when you arrive.
No notice restricts photography of the exteriors, though the buildings share the grounds with campers and cottage guests. By car it is about 40 minutes from the Matsuyama interchange. By public transport, take the JR Shikoku Bus Kumakogen Line from JR Matsuyama Station to the Kumakogen stop, about 1 hour 20 minutes, then a taxi for the last 7 kilometres.
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Q&A
- How old is Furusato Travel Village Former Ishimaru Family Residence Main House?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the later Edo period, in the range 1751 to 1829, on structural evidence rather than a dated document. It is the oldest of the five registered buildings in the travel village.
- Is it true that a government official stayed at Furusato Travel Village Former Ishimaru Family Residence Main House?
- It is a local tradition rather than a documented fact. The domain held forest land near the building's original site, and accounts passed down in the district say the house served as overnight lodging for the daikan, the domain's local administrator, when he came to inspect it. The twelve-mat formal room is consistent with that account.
- Can I go inside Furusato Travel Village Former Ishimaru Family Residence Main House?
- Interior opening is not advertised as a scheduled service. The exterior can be seen whenever the travel village is open, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Telephone 0892-41-0711 in advance and ask about access on the day you plan to come.
- Was Furusato Travel Village Former Ishimaru Family Residence Main House always on this site?
- No. It was moved here in 1977 from elsewhere in the district, as part of the programme that assembled five vernacular buildings inside the travel village between 1976 and 1980. The other four followed the same route.
- How do I reach Furusato Travel Village Former Ishimaru Family Residence Main House?
- By car, about 40 minutes from the Matsuyama interchange on the expressway, with parking on site. Otherwise the JR Shikoku Bus Kumakogen Line runs from JR Matsuyama Station to the Kumakogen stop in about 1 hour 20 minutes, and a taxi covers the remaining 7 kilometres.
Basic Information
| Name | Furusato Travel Village Former Ishimaru Family Residence Main House (ふるさと旅行村旧石丸家住宅主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 488 Otsu, Shimohatanogawa, Kumakogen Town, Kamiukena District, Ehime Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure), register number 38-0031 |
| Year Designated | Registered 31 January 2003; notified 26 February 2003 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 137 square metres; single storey, thatched roof |
| Owner | Kumakogen Town |
| Public Access | Inside Kumakogen Furusato Travel Village. Exterior viewable during opening hours, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.; winter closure applies; interior opening not scheduled |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Furusato Ryokomura Kyu-Ishimaru-ke Jutaku Shuoku
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003154
- Cultural Heritage Online: Furusato Ryokomura Kyu-Ishimaru-ke Jutaku Shuoku
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/116034
- Kumakogen Town: List of designated cultural properties in the town
- https://www.kumakogen.jp/site/education/6687.html
- Kumakogen Furusato Travel Village, official site
- https://furusato-family.com/
Last verified: 2026.09.05