The Study Where a Great Dictionary Was Made
The Enjinsonsha (遠人村舎) is a small Meiji-period timber building, now in the garden of the Morohashi Tetsuji Memorial Museum in Niwatsuki, Sanjo City, Niigata Prefecture, that was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on December 19, 2014 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). It is where the sinologist Morohashi Tetsuji worked on his great Chinese-Japanese dictionary, the Dai Kan-Wa Jiten.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a single-storey timber building with a tiled roof and a building area of 21 square metres, moved in 1937 and 1996; registration number 15-0393, owned by Sanjo City.
A Scholar's Workroom
According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, this is the building in which Morohashi compiled the Dai Kan-Wa Jiten. The Niigata Prefectural Tourism Association notes that the dictionary covers more than 50,000 head characters and 520,000 compounds, and that a complete 15-volume edition including supplements was published in 2000, after his death.
The association says the building stands at the back of the museum garden, together with Morohashi's birthplace house, both moved there for display.
Why It Was Registered
The Enjinsonsha was registered as a structure that has become a model of design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes a tasteful design befitting a scholar's study, with cedar bark on the outer walls and carefully chosen round timbers inside.
What to Look For
It has a gabled roof, with straight-edged tiles bordered by sheet metal. A corridor half a bay wide runs along the northwest of its two rooms of 4.5 and 3 mats (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Look at the cedar-bark walls and the round-timber fittings inside (Agency for Cultural Affairs). It was in this tiny building of just 21 square metres that work on the dictionary went forward.
Visiting
According to the Niigata Prefectural Tourism Association, the Enjinsonsha can be seen free of charge from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The museum is closed on Mondays (the next day if a holiday) and from December 29 to January 3. The museum's exhibition rooms charge 500 yen for adults; students are free.
The address is 501 Niwatsuki, Sanjo City (the museum is at 434-1 Niwatsuki). Enquiries go to the Morohashi Tetsuji Memorial Museum (0256-47-2208); parking is available.
Q&A
- When was the Enjinsonsha built?
- In the Meiji period; it was moved in 1937 and 1996 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- How is 遠人村舎 read?
- Enjinsonsha (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- What happened in the Enjinsonsha?
- The sinologist Morohashi Tetsuji worked on the Dai Kan-Wa Jiten dictionary there (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- Can I visit it?
- Yes, in the garden of the Morohashi Tetsuji Memorial Museum, free, from 9:00 to 16:30; closed on Mondays (Niigata Prefectural Tourism Association).
- When was the Enjinsonsha registered?
- On December 19, 2014.
Basic Information
| Name | Enjinsonsha (遠人村舎) |
|---|---|
| Location | 501 Niwatsuki, Sanjo City, Niigata Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2014/12/19 (Heisei 26) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Single-storey timber building, tiled roof, building area 21 square metres |
| Owner | Sanjo City |
| Public Access | Open free in the museum garden (closed Mondays) |
References
- Enjinsonsha (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00010276
- Morohashi Tetsuji Memorial Museum (Niigata tourism navigator, Japanese)
- https://niigata-kankou.or.jp/blog/1158
Last verified: 2026.10.14