Umeda Family Residence (Myogaya)

The Umeda Family Residence at Myogaya

The Umeda Family Residence (Myogaya), 梅田家住宅（茗荷屋）, is a townhouse property on the old Nakasendo highway at Unuma Nishimachi, Kakamigahara City, Gifu Prefecture; its late-Edo main house and its early-Showa annex and storehouse were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on March 27, 2006 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). All three are registered simply as the Umeda Family Residence, and Kakamigahara City adds the trade name Myogaya (Myōgaya) to tell the house apart.

According to the city, the Umeda family ran a hatago, a lodging house for highway travellers, under the name Myogaya in the Edo period, and in the Nobi earthquake of 1891 theirs was the only house in this stretch of the post town left standing. The main house still keeps its late-Edo structure; the Agency calls it the only townhouse in the former Unuma post town that goes back to the Edo period.

Two Umeda houses stand side by side on the south side of the street. The one immediately to the west, at lot 1-529, has its own registered main house and annex. Because the registered names are identical, this page adds the trade name and calls this property the Umeda Family Residence (Myogaya).

How the Three Buildings Sit on the Lot

The Umeda Family Residence (Myogaya) occupies a long, narrow lot running south from the old Nakasendo (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The main house faces the road on the north; the annex is joined to its east end and turns two hip-and-gable gables toward the street. Behind them lies a courtyard, and the storehouse stands at the southeast corner of the lot, facing north (Agency for Cultural Affairs; Kakamigahara City).

All three were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape of the country. On May 1, 2008, Kakamigahara City also named the main house, the annex with its wall, and the storehouse as Landscape Important Buildings. The structure and details of each building are described on its own page.

Visiting the Umeda Family Residence (Myogaya)

The Umeda Family Residence (Myogaya) is a private home. Kakamigahara City notes that none of the old townhouses here are open inside, so the buildings can be seen only from the old Nakasendo.

According to the city, the Nakasendo Unuma-juku Machiya-kan, a museum in the middle of the post town, is a 15-minute walk from Unuma-juku Station on the Meitetsu Kakamigahara Line and a 20-minute walk from JR Unuma Station on the Takayama Main Line or from Meitetsu Shin-Unuma Station. The Umeda Family Residence (Myogaya) is about 140 metres west of the Machiya-kan along the road, on the south side. The Machiya-kan is free and opens from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., closing on Mondays and some other days (as of November 2026).