Former Fujimura Family Residence (Tamura Family Residence) Annex

The Annex Where an Emperor Rested

The Former Fujimura Family Residence (Tamura Family Residence) Annex is a single-storey wooden building of the early Meiji era (1868–1882) on the old Hokkoku Kaidō in Nonoichi City, Ishikawa Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2021.

It stands southwest of the Main House and covers 124 square metres under a gabled (kirizuma) roof of pantiles, with a lean-to (geya) on the north and an earthen-floored veranda (tsuchi-en) on the south. When Emperor Meiji toured the Hokuriku region in 1878, the Fujimura home served as one of his rest stops. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, this annex is said to be part of the old main house where he paused.

When the Tamura family rebuilt the Main House in 1937, they left the annex standing. Of all the buildings at the Former Fujimura Family Residence, it is the one closest to the story that gives the compound its name.

Why It Matters

The Annex was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. Its interest lies in two things: fine early Meiji reception rooms, and a direct link to the emperor's journey through the town.

Nonoichi City notes that the Annex and the street-facing Front Gate keep their appearance from 1878. It is unusual for the rooms of a house chosen as an imperial rest stop to survive a later rebuilding intact. Because the Tamura family kept them beside their new house, visitors to the Former Fujimura Family Residence can compare two generations of domestic building within one lot.

What to Look For

The plan is simple. The entrance is at the northwest, a wide board-floored corridor runs along the north side, and the south side holds a formal zashiki of 12 and a half tatami mats with an adjoining room. Guests were shown into rooms facing the sunny south garden, while circulation stayed on the north.

Nonoichi City describes the zashiki as a large room and also calls it the butsuma, the room for the family altar. It was presumably the most formal space in the house, and so the natural choice for an imperial visitor.

The detail everyone singles out is the carved ranma transom over the partition between the rooms, which takes Mount Fuji as its subject. Transoms were where a household showed its standing, and both the Agency for Cultural Affairs and the city cite this one as proof of the annex's quality.

Visiting the Annex

The Annex is part of a private home, and its interior is closed to the public. There is no regular opportunity to see the Fuji transom or the large zashiki.

It stands inside the compound southwest of the Main House, behind the Earthen Wall that encloses the west and south sides, so it is almost invisible from the street. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database carries a photograph of its north face. Directions and general viewing conditions are on the Former Fujimura Family Residence page.