Shimada Shoten and Shimada Family Residence

A Corner Lot in Tomoecho, Kiryu

Shimada Shoten and Shimada Family Residence (島田商店・島田家住宅) is a merchant family's property in Tomoecho 1-chome, Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture, whose 7 buildings and structures, from a store of the Taisho period to a main house of 1953, were registered together as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on November 29, 2006.

Four are registered under the shop's name, Shimada Shoten: the store, the former office, the former stone storehouse and the former warehouse. Three carry the family name, Shimada Family Residence: the main house, the middle gate and a stone torii. Their registration numbers run in sequence from 10-0203 to 10-0209 and all share the address 1-1121-8 Tomoecho, so Kiryu City presents them as one property.

The trading buildings line the streets; behind them a courtyard holds the family's house and a small household Inari shrine. The two names match the two sides of the lot, the business and the home.

From Tobacco Dealer to General Store

According to Kiryu City, the story of Shimada Shoten and Shimada Family Residence begins in 1876, when a branch of the Shimada family split from the main house, a dye shop in Honcho 6-chome, and opened as a tobacco dealer in the same district.

The family bought this site, land and buildings together, in 1928, and until 1937 let it out as landlords of 3 rented houses. In 1937 they remodelled the store and the office, built a new stone storehouse and moved here from Honcho, carrying on as a general store and tobacco shop.

The main house, the middle gate and the warehouse at the back followed in 1953. The city describes the family residence as standing much as it was first built. In recent years the shop sold only tea, and the city reports that it has now closed.

How the Seven Are Arranged

The lot of Shimada Shoten and Shimada Family Residence is a corner plot with streets on its south and east sides. The store stands at the southeast corner facing south, its corner at the street junction cut off at an angle. The former office adjoins it to the west, also fronting the south street; beyond a passage about 4 metres wide, which Kiryu City says was once used for moving goods, the former stone storehouse closes the west end of the street front.

The former warehouse sits behind the storehouse in the northwest corner, with no street frontage. The main house joins the store on its north side and runs along the east street, but its entrance opens west onto the courtyard. The middle gate stands before that entrance, and slightly north of the centre of the courtyard an Inari shrine is fronted on its east side by the stone torii (Agency for Cultural Affairs; Kiryu City).

• Shimada Shoten Store: Taisho period, timber, 2 storeys, tile roof, building area 59 m²
• Shimada Shoten Former Office: late Meiji period, altered in 1937 and 1985, timber, single-storey, tile roof, 44 m²
• Shimada Shoten Former Stone Storehouse: 1937, renovated 1985, stone, 2 storeys, tile roof, 99 m²
• Shimada Shoten Former Warehouse: 1953, timber, 2 storeys, tile roof, 99 m²
• Shimada Family Residence Main House: 1953, timber, single-storey, tile roof, 91 m²
• Shimada Family Residence Middle Gate: 1953, timber, copper roof, frontage 1.2 m
• Shimada Family Residence Torii Gate: 1937, stone, height 2.3 m, width 2.8 m

All 7 were registered as contributing to the historic landscape of the country.

Visiting

Shimada Shoten and Shimada Family Residence is private property, and no official information on interior access or visits was found. You can see the buildings from the south and east streets: the store, former office and stone storehouse in a row along the south street, and from the east street the cut corner of the store and the white plastered wall of the main house running north from it. The middle gate and the torii stand inside the courtyard, so do not go beyond the gates.

Kiryu City notes that the former stone storehouse has been converted into a dental clinic. There is no official guidance on photography, so please be considerate of residents and patients.

The nearest station is Kiryu, on the JR Ryomo Line and the Watarase Keikoku Railway; Shimada Shoten and Shimada Family Residence lies about 370 metres southeast of it in a straight line. Nishi-Kiryu Station on the Jomo Electric Railway is about 610 metres away.