Satomi Family Residence

About the Satomi Family Residence

The Satomi Family Residence (里見家住宅, Satomi-ke Jūtaku) is a farmstead in Shimo-Osaka, Shimonita Town, Gunma Prefecture, with buildings dating from the late Edo period (1830 to 1867) to the mid-Meiji era, and its four buildings, the main house, storehouse, miso storehouse and gate, became Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on December 5, 2007. All four stand on a single lot, 48 Takenohana.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates the storehouse, the miso storehouse and the gate to the closing decades of the Edo period, and the main house to the middle of the Meiji era. Gunma Prefecture's list of registered properties is more precise about the house and gives 1883. Read in order of age, the small outbuildings came first and the large house followed after the Meiji Restoration.

Shimo-Osaka in the Silk Era

Shimo-Osaka, where the Satomi Family Residence stands, was a village in its own right during the Edo period. According to Shimonita Town's history page, it was merged with its neighbours into Osaka Village (小坂村, not to be confused with the city of Osaka) in the Meiji era and became part of Shimonita Town in the municipal mergers of 1955.

The upper floor of the Satomi Family Residence main house was given over entirely to raising silkworms, and the Agency singles it out as a building that shows the character of a large sericulture farmhouse of the modern period. The town's notes on local heritage explain that the Kōzuke Railway (上野鉄道), opened between Takasaki and Shimonita in 1897, carried raw silk and cocoons for what was then the area's main industry. The line was renamed the Jōshin Electric Railway in 1921 and still runs to Shimonita today.

The Four Buildings

The Agency's descriptions allow the layout of the Satomi Family Residence to be pieced together. The south side of the plot faces the road.

• The main house stands on the north side of the plot, facing south. It is a two-storey timber building with a footprint of 176 square meters, 18 meters long and 9.5 meters deep.
• The miso storehouse stands in front of the main house, a little to the west. It is a two-storey Dozo-zukuri building of 17 square meters with two windows on its south side, toward the road.
• The gate adjoins the east side of the miso storehouse and faces south. It is a timber gate with a storage loft above the passage, covering 13 square meters.
• The storehouse stands in the southeast part of the plot. It is a two-storey earthen-walled building of 27 square meters.

Along the road, the miso storehouse and the gate form the public face of the farmstead, with the main house set back behind them. The Agency describes the gate and the miso storehouse as working together to create the front of the property. Both were repaired in 1915.

The four buildings were registered on December 5, 2007, in the 57th round of registrations, and the registration was published on December 19 that year. They carry the consecutive numbers 10-0248 to 10-0251. The main house was registered as a model of form, and the other three for their contribution to the historic landscape.

Visiting the Satomi Family Residence

The Satomi Family Residence is a private home, and Gunma Prefecture lists its owner as a private individual. It is not open to the public, and visitors cannot enter the grounds or the buildings. No public open days or special openings could be found.

What can be seen from outside is mainly the street front formed by the miso storehouse and the gate, with the main house farther back. The Shimonita Board of Education reminds visitors that some heritage sites in the town stand on private land and asks them to behave considerately. Take photographs only from the public road, and keep clear of residents and traffic.

By rail, take the Jōshin Electric Railway from Takasaki Station to its terminus at Shimonita Station; the town puts the journey at about 60 minutes. From Shimonita Station the Satomi Family Residence is about 1.4 kilometers away on foot, a walk of around 20 minutes.