Toyotaya Ryokan Main Building

Toyodaya Ryokan Main Building: A Wooden Inn That Tells the Story of Showa-Era Takasaki

Step out of the west exit of JR Takasaki Station, walk for less than two minutes through a streetscape of glass towers and modern offices, and you will encounter something that looks as if it has slipped through a fold in time. Standing quietly among high-rise buildings, the main building of Toyodaya Ryokan is a two-story wooden inn whose curving entrance gable, tiled roof, and lattice windows have welcomed travelers since 1932. Today it is a registered national cultural property and one of the very last surviving station-front ryokan of its era anywhere in Japan.

For visitors from overseas, Toyodaya offers an experience that goes beyond admiring architecture from the outside. The building is still in active use—now primarily as a venue for traditional Japanese cuisine and banquets—so a reservation lets you slip off your shoes in the entry hall, walk on softly worn wooden floors, and dine in rooms that once hosted soldiers' families, postwar film stars, and even the famed novelist Shiba Ryotaro.

A Brief History from Meiji to Today

The story of Toyodaya begins in 1879, the twelfth year of the Meiji era, when the business was originally established as a small eatery. After Takasaki Station opened in 1884 and the area in front of it began to flourish as a transportation hub, the establishment changed its trade to that of a ryokan, providing lodging to the steady stream of travelers, merchants, and military personnel arriving by rail. By 1897, a local guidebook titled "Takasaki Hanjoki" already listed "Toyodaya, run by Sonohara Matsusaburo" among the city's notable inns.

Pre-war Takasaki was known as a "military city," home to the Imperial Army's 15th Infantry Regiment, and the inns clustered around the station were filled with families visiting their drafted sons and brothers. Among the many soldiers and officers who passed through, a young messenger officer named Fukuda Teiichi—later to become world famous as the historical novelist Shiba Ryotaro—delivered orders to the room known as "Number Ten." After the war he returned to revisit that very room, and from then on Number Ten became the room he always requested when he stayed.

In the postwar period, Takasaki became known as the "City of Cinema," and Toyodaya served as a quiet base for film crews. Stars who appeared in the celebrated 1955 film "Here Is a Spring" (Koko ni Izumi Ari)—including Kishi Keiko, Okada Eiji, Kato Daisuke, and Kobayashi Keiju—are said to have stayed at the inn during production.

The early 21st century nearly brought the story to an end. In 2001, an urban redevelopment project to widen the street in front of the station threatened the building with demolition. With the help of friends and supporters who refused to see the inn lost, the family chose to scale down the property, removing rear wings and using the traditional Japanese technique of hikiya—physically lifting and sliding an entire building intact—to relocate the main hall slightly back from the road. Two years later, in September 2003, the rescued building was registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property.

Why Was It Designated a Cultural Property?

The Agency for Cultural Affairs registered the main building of Toyodaya Ryokan as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on September 19, 2003. The designation recognizes the structure as a precious surviving example of the architectural form taken by station-front inns during the early Showa period.

In the early twentieth century, almost every major Japanese rail station was ringed by such wooden ryokan, often two or three stories tall, with deep eaves, tatami rooms, and decorative entrance gables designed to attract weary travelers. Most were lost to wartime air raids, postwar fires, or the simple economics of redevelopment. Takasaki itself once had rows of similar inns lining the station forecourt, and Toyodaya is essentially the last one still standing in something close to its original form. Its preservation allows architectural historians, residents, and visitors alike to read directly the way travel, hospitality, and cityscape were woven together a century ago.

Architectural Highlights

The main building is a wooden two-story structure of approximately 120 square meters, oriented to face north toward the avenue leading from Takasaki Station. The roof is built in the elegant irimoya (hip-and-gable) style, covered with traditional sangawara ceramic tiles, and the entrance is positioned on the gable end—a configuration known as tsumairi.

The most striking detail is reserved for the front facade. Above the central entrance, the eaves curve upward into a graceful karahafu, the bowed gable shape long associated in Japanese architecture with spaces of dignity and welcome. Both the main gable and the karahafu over the entrance are ornamented with carved gegyo pendants, decorative wooden plaques traditionally believed to ward off fire. Together these features give the building an unusually theatrical presence—precisely the sort of welcoming display that station-front inns once relied on to catch the eye of arriving guests.

Inside, the upper floor contains five guest rooms arranged around a central corridor with surrounding side passages, an arrangement designed to give each room a degree of privacy and quiet—qualities still appreciated today by diners attending banquets and private gatherings.

How to Visit and What to Expect

Toyodaya is now best understood as a working cultural property where guests can enjoy seasonal Japanese cuisine in historic surroundings. Lunchtime kaiseki courses and evening banquets are the principal offerings, with menus changing according to the seasons. Reservations are essential, as the building does not accept walk-in guests and there is no posted menu—diners simply arrange a budget and number of guests, and the chef prepares a course to match. Some guest rooms are also available for overnight stays for those who wish to experience sleeping in a registered cultural property.

Because the property does not actively advertise online, finding it has the slight thrill of discovering a local secret. Visitors are encouraged to telephone in advance, ideally with the help of a Japanese-speaking friend or hotel concierge, to confirm availability and times.

What to See Nearby

Toyodaya's location in central Takasaki makes it an excellent starting point for a day in northern Gunma. A short walk or bus ride brings visitors to several rewarding sights.

• Shorinzan Daruma-ji Temple — the spiritual home of the famous Takasaki Daruma dolls, with hundreds of red papier-mache figures lining its halls
• Takasaki Castle Site Park — peaceful grounds preserving stone walls and moats of the former castle, popular for cherry blossoms in spring
• Gunma Music Center — a concert hall designed by Czech-American architect Antonin Raymond and home to the Gunma Symphony Orchestra
• Byakui Dai-Kannon — a 41.8-meter white statue of the Goddess of Mercy on a hillside overlooking the city
• Takasaki City Tower 21 Observatory — a free panoramic view across the Kanto Plain to the surrounding mountains

Takasaki is also a major rail hub, with Joetsu and Hokuriku Shinkansen connections that make day trips to the hot springs of Ikaho and Kusatsu, the historic post town of Annaka, or the silk-weaving town of Kiryu remarkably easy.