Akai Family Residence

What Is the Akai Family Residence?

The Akai Family Residence (赤井家住宅, Akai-ke Jūtaku) in Ueno-Shinobicho, Iga City, Mie Prefecture, is a samurai residence whose oldest building is a late Edo-period gatehouse, and its five components were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties of Japan on September 10, 2010.

The five are the nagayamon gate, the main house, the tea room, the storehouse and the earthen wall, registered on the same day under consecutive numbers 24-0095 to 24-0099. Their dates span roughly a century. The gate belongs to the last decades of the Edo period (1830 to 1867), the main house to the mid-Meiji years, the storehouse and wall to 1895, and the tea room to the early Showa era (1926 to 1944). The property was rebuilt piece by piece rather than all at once.

Iga City describes the Akai Family Residence as one of the few samurai houses left in the old castle town of Ueno. The city owns it today, opens the garden free of charge and rents out the rooms for exhibitions, workshops and meetings.

From Castle Lords of Tamba to Retainers of the Todo Clan

According to a heritage assessment published by Iga City, the Akai were once lords of Kuroi Castle in Tamba Province, in what is now Tamba City, Hyogo Prefecture. After the family's fortunes collapsed they lived in retirement in Kyoto, until the warlord Todo Takatora took them into his service. They moved to Iga, and the domain chronicle Koshitsu Nenpu Ryaku records that the head of the family was appointed a commander of foot soldiers (ashigaru taisho) with a stipend of 1,000 koku of rice.

The family did not always live on this spot. A castle-town map from the Kan'ei era (1624 to 1644) places Akai Akuemon's house at the musket range west of the inner castle precinct. A map from the early Meiji period shows the name Akai Yosaburo in Shinobicho, the present site. Another domain record identifies Yosaburo as a senior inspector (kimoiri metsuke).

Shinobicho was a samurai quarter spreading south of the Misujimachi district of the castle town. The Akai Family Residence stands on the west side of Nakanotachimachi-dori, the street that runs north to south through the old town.

Layout of the Compound

The Akai Family Residence stands on a corner lot of 1,651 square meters. Along the street on the east side are the nagayamon gate and the storehouse. Earthen walls run north from the gate, fill the gap between the gate and the storehouse, and continue west from the storehouse along the south side. From the street, this is the face of the property: a long gate building, a two-story storehouse with pale upper walls, and a line of tile-capped walls.

Pass through the gate and the entrance of the main house is straight ahead. The small tea room sits southeast of the main house, between it and the storehouse, and the garden opens out to the west.

A natural route is to look at the gate from the street, walk through it to the main house entrance, then circle the garden past the tea room to the back of the storehouse. Walking back out along the street afterward shows how the walls, fronted by tall Inuyarai guards along the street, tie the five buildings together.

From Private Home to Public Facility

Three months after registration, in December 2010, the Akai Family Residence was donated to Iga City. The city drew up a basic design in fiscal 2011 and detailed plans in fiscal 2012, holding public workshops through fiscal 2014 to decide how the house should be used.

Restoration began in September 2013 and finished in September 2014. The residence opened to the public the following month as a venue for exhibitions, hands-on cultural activities and community events.

On the city's floor plan, the main house holds a 14-mat room, a 6-mat room and a kitchen and dining space, and an exhibition room runs along the street side to the east. A new storage building, an office and restrooms were added to the northwest, with parking on the west side of the lot.

Visiting: Hours, Admission and Access

The Akai Family Residence is open from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and free viewing is available until 5:00 p.m. It is closed on Wednesdays and from December 29 to January 3. There is no admission fee. The rooms are rented out by the session, so a room in use may be closed to casual visitors.

The nearest station is Uenoshi on the Iga Railway, about 600 meters to the northeast, or roughly a 10-minute walk. The Shirasagi community bus (inner loop) stops at Nishi-Shinobicho; from there the residence is a one-minute walk south.

Drivers should turn onto Nakanotachimachi-dori in front of the Honmachi-dori post office and continue about 300 meters south. The parking lot is entered from the south side. When it is full, Iga City suggests the lot at the nearby Kishi Hiroko Memorial Iga Literature Museum or a private lot.

The residence is managed by the Iga Cultural City Association. Inquiries and room bookings go to the Akai Family Residence office (+81-595-51-7578). No official policy on photography could be found, so ask at the reception desk before photographing interiors.