Shomura Family Residence

Shomura Family Residence

The Shomura Family Residence (庄村家住宅, Shōmura-ke Jūtaku) in Shimadani, Hachiman-cho, Gujo City, Gifu Prefecture, is a Meiji-era merchant house whose four buildings, the main house, the east and west storehouses and an annex, were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on August 28, 2001 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). They carry consecutive registration numbers, 21-0046 to 21-0049.

The house faces south onto the street that had been the commercial heart of Hachiman, the old castle town better known as Gujo Hachiman, since the Edo period (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Yoshida River runs along the north side of the plot. The main house stands on the street; the two storehouses sit side by side at the back, with the annex to their west.

The Four Buildings

• Main House: about the early Meiji era, 2-storey timber, 188 m². A gabled front six bays wide, with a sukiya-style reception room inside
• East Storehouse: about the late Meiji era, 2-storey earthen-walled storehouse, 31 m². Built to hold swords, porcelain and similar valuables
• West Storehouse: about the late Meiji era, 2-storey earthen-walled storehouse, 27 m². Used for rice and household goods, under one continuous roof with the east storehouse
• Annex: about the late Meiji era, 2-storey timber, 72 m². Said to have served as retirement quarters

The Agency dates the main house to about the early Meiji era and the other three to the late Meiji era, so the house on the street came first and the buildings behind it followed. Each building has its own page with details of its construction.

Built Against the River

All three back buildings stand on raised footings. The west storehouse rests on a tall base of rounded cobblestones laid up against floods from the Yoshida River, the east storehouse on a cobble base about 2 metres high, and the annex on a high cobble base on its north side, with a tatami room set on top (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The nearer a building stands to the river, the higher its footing: a household that traded on the street in front and lived with the river behind.

According to Gujo City, the street itself took its present form in 1923, when a league of townspeople extended the road westward as the main thoroughfare of Hachiman.

Visiting

No owner is listed in the Agency database, and no official information on visits to the interiors was found. The buildings are seen from the street, where the main house stands; the two storehouses and the annex are at the back of the plot.

Shimadani lies on the south bank of the Yoshida River. Gujo-Hachiman Station on the Nagaragawa Railway and the Old City Hall of Gujo, which offers tourist information, are both in the same district (Gujo City Tourism Federation). Please view the house from the street and do not enter the property.