A Hardware Merchant's Compound in Shibukawa
The Horiguchi Family Residence (堀口家住宅, Horiguchi-ke Jūtaku) is a hardware merchant's compound in Kaminocho, Shibukawa City, Gunma Prefecture, whose five buildings, centred on a shop storehouse of 1866, were registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 4 December 2000.
The five registrations cover the shop storehouse, the main house, an annex, a north storehouse and a south storehouse, numbered consecutively from 10-0052 to 10-0056. The national record dates the shop storehouse to 1866 and the main house to about the same year; the annex followed in 1896, and the two rear storehouses in 1897. In roughly thirty years, from the last years of the Edo period to the middle of the Meiji era, the whole compound took shape.
All five are Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (buildings). The shop storehouse was registered as a structure that would be difficult to reproduce; the other four were registered as models of their building type.
The Maruhon Hardware Business
According to Shibukawa City, the Horiguchi family ran a hardware shop under the trade name Maruhon from the Edo period and kept trading from these buildings until 1967. The business continues today as Horiguchi Co., Ltd., which traces its founding as a hardware dealer in Shibukawa to 1629.
Kaminocho was one of the three wards, with Nakanocho and Shimonocho, that made up the Edo-period post town of Shibukawa-juku. The Horiguchi Family Residence preserves a merchant's plot in that ward, and the city values it for keeping not only the late Edo and Meiji buildings but also the original division of the land.
The company now keeps the compound as its former head office, under the name Misegura Kinenkan (Shop Storehouse Memorial Hall). Its own history dates the completion of three storehouses and a warehouse to the early Meiji years, which does not match the 1896 and 1897 dates in the national record. This site follows the national record.
How the Horiguchi Family Residence Is Laid Out
The plot of the Horiguchi Family Residence is long and narrow, running north to south between the Shibukawa-Matsuida road and the Hirasawa River, with its street frontage at the north end. Read together, the five official descriptions show the buildings arranged in depth from the street.
On the street, the shop storehouse stands at the north-west corner facing north, and the annex adjoins its east side. The black plastered storehouse and the timber annex form the frontage along the old road.
Behind the shop storehouse to the south stands the main house, its ridge parallel to the shop's. Further south, near the middle of the plot, the north and south storehouses stand side by side with their ridges turned the other way. Shop at the front, living quarters behind, storage at the back: trade, home and goods share one plot.
Visiting the Horiguchi Family Residence
The Horiguchi Family Residence is managed by Horiguchi Co., Ltd. as its former head office, and no opening days or visiting hours are published. The interiors are not regularly open, so a visit means viewing the exteriors from the road. The company lists its general affairs department (telephone 0279-22-2525) as the point of contact.
From the road you can see the north front of the shop storehouse and the annex beside it. The main house and the two storehouses stand deeper in the plot, and how much of them can be seen from the street has not been confirmed. Please do not enter the grounds.
The nearest station is Shibukawa on the JR Joetsu and Agatsuma lines. The Horiguchi Family Residence is about 1.2 kilometres to the north-west, roughly a 15-minute walk. No parking for visitors is advertised.
References
- 堀口家住宅店蔵 (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002010
- 堀口家住宅主屋 (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002011
- 堀口家住宅北蔵 (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002012
- 堀口家住宅南蔵 (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002013
- 堀口家住宅付属屋 (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Database of National Cultural Properties)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00002014
- 旧渋川市地区の指定文化財 (Shibukawa City)
- https://www.city.shibukawa.lg.jp/kankou/000373/000375/p000295.html
- 店蔵記念館 (Horiguchi Co., Ltd.)
- https://www.horiguchi.co.jp/museum/index.html
- ホリグチのあゆみ (Horiguchi Co., Ltd., company history)
- https://www.horiguchi.co.jp/company/outline.html
Last verified: 2026.09.28
Basic Information
| Name | Horiguchi Family Residence |
|---|---|
| Location | 2335 Kaminocho, Shibukawa City, Gunma Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (5) |
| Coordinates | 36.49575, 139.00009 |
