Yoshida Family Residence Izumisho Goten

A Merchant's Reception House in Takasaki

The Yoshida Family Residence Izumisho Goten (吉田家住宅和泉庄御殿) is a two-storey timber reception house of the merchant Yoshida family, completed in 1927, moved and restored at Ohashi-machi, Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture, in 1990, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on October 18, 2000 (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Takasaki City).

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records two storeys of timber with a tiled roof and a building area of 63 square metres, registration number 10-0042.

An Oil Merchant's Guest House

According to Takasaki City, the Yoshida family ran a large business dealing in oils, and the house was completed in 1927 after ten years of work. It once stood in the town centre at Tamachi, but because of damp caused by surrounding high-rise buildings it was moved in its entirety, trees and all, to its present site.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records that the master builder of the Yoshida Family Residence Izumisho Goten was Ishiguro Hiroshi of Niigata, and that fine timbers are used throughout.

Value as a Registered Cultural Property

The Yoshida Family Residence Izumisho Goten was registered as a building that has become a model of design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs highlights its painstaking mother-of-pearl inlay, lacquer and carving, and calls it a representative modern Japanese-style building of Takasaki.

What to Look For

The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes a two-storey hip-and-gable building with pan tiles, a bracketed pent roof on the upper floor and exposed-post plaster walls.

Takasaki City points out that the Yoshida Family Residence Izumisho Goten borrows techniques of temple and shrine building, such as carved shutter boxes and an upper balustrade with upswept ends, without disturbing the harmony of a domestic building.

Visiting

The Yoshida Family Residence Izumisho Goten is at 36-9 Ohashi-machi, Takasaki City. No public opening information has been confirmed, so contact the Cultural Properties Division of the Takasaki City Board of Education (027-321-1292) before planning a visit.