The Office of a Daishoji Silk Weaver
The Former Yamacho Textile Company Office (旧山長織物会社事務所) is a Western-style office building of 1910 in Daishoji Banbacho, Kaga City, Ishikawa Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on March 18, 2003 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The building now houses the offices and reading room of the Fukata Kyuya Mountain Culture Museum (深田久弥 山の文化館).
The Agency records a 2-storey timber building with a tile roof and a building area of 129 square metres; registration number 17-0066.
A Hipped Roof and a Carriage Porch
The Former Yamacho Textile Company Office stands near the bank of the old course of the Daishoji River, facing south (Agency for Cultural Affairs). It is a full 2-storey timber block, 8 bays by 3, under a hipped roof of Echizen tiles. A carriage porch with its own small hipped roof projects from the middle of the south front, and a lean-to one bay deep runs along the back.
The walls are clad in overlapping horizontal boards of the type Japanese builders called English clapboard (Shitami-itabari), and the Agency singles out the generous window and door openings as the building's defining trait. Japanese roof tiles over Western-style boarded walls: it is the kind of hybrid that provincial companies built for their offices in the last years of the Meiji era.
Why It Was Registered
The Agency registered the Former Yamacho Textile Company Office as a building that contributes to the historic landscape of the country. Its Western-style front, seen from the road along the old river, is part of the streetscape of this corner of Daishoji.
Kaga City describes the Yamacho group as a 1910 office in the pseudo-Western manner together with its gate and storehouse.
What to Look For
Stand in front of the carriage porch, where its small hipped roof overlaps the main roof, to take in the boxy 2-storey mass. Note how the fine horizontal lines of the clapboard are cut by the large window and door openings.
Walk around to the back of the Former Yamacho Textile Company Office and the one-bay lean-to comes into view: plain and practical, in contrast to the formal south front.
Visiting
The Former Yamacho Textile Company Office is in use as part of the Fukata Kyuya Mountain Culture Museum: according to the museum, the ground floor holds the office and a library, and the upper floor a meeting hall that can be rented for 460 yen per hour (checked November 2026).
The exterior can also be seen from the road in front. The museum's published information does not say whether photography is allowed inside, so ask at the reception desk.
Q&A
- When was the Former Yamacho Textile Company Office built?
- In 1910 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- What does the Former Yamacho Textile Company Office look like?
- A full 2-storey timber building with a hipped tile roof, a carriage porch and English-style clapboard walls (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- Can I go inside the Former Yamacho Textile Company Office?
- It is part of the Fukata Kyuya Mountain Culture Museum; the ground floor has the office and a library, and the upper floor is a meeting hall for hire (museum).
- Where is the Former Yamacho Textile Company Office?
- At 18-2 Daishoji Banbacho, Kaga City, Ishikawa Prefecture.
- When was the Former Yamacho Textile Company Office registered?
- On March 18, 2003 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Basic Information
| Name | Former Yamacho Textile Company Office (旧山長織物会社事務所) |
|---|---|
| Location | 18-2 Daishoji Banbacho, Kaga City, Ishikawa Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2003/03/18 (Heisei 15) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, 2 storeys, tile roof, building area 129 m² |
| Owner | Kaga City |
| Public Access | Open as the Fukata Kyuya Mountain Culture Museum (admission charged, closed Tuesdays) |
References
- Former Yamacho Textile Company Office (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003226
- Former Yamacho Textile Company Office (Cultural Heritage Online, Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/179446
- Facilities (Fukata Kyuya Mountain Culture Museum, Japanese)
- https://yamanobunkakan.com/?page_id=90
- Visitor information (Fukata Kyuya Mountain Culture Museum, Japanese)
- https://yamanobunkakan.com/?page_id=77
- Registered Cultural Properties (Kaga City, Japanese)
- https://www.city.kaga.ishikawa.jp/ed/bunka_shinko/6066.html
Last verified: 2026.11.09
