Former Komoro Wakihonjin

Former Komoro Wakihonjin

The Former Komoro Wakihonjin (旧小諸脇本陣) in Ichimachi, Komoro City, Nagano Prefecture, was the secondary official inn of Komoro-juku, a post town on the Hokkoku Kaido road; its late Edo-period main house and detached reception room and an early Meiji storehouse were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on April 3, 2020 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). All three belong to Komoro City.

The house traded as Kumeya, and a small roofed signboard under the eaves of the main house still reads "Kumeya Jūemon" (Kumeya). Komoro City restored the buildings, and since July 2019 the Komoro Tourism Bureau has run them under contract from the city as Wakihonjin no Yado Kumeya, with guest rooms and a tea room (Japan Tourism Agency). The Agency for Cultural Affairs records a renovation of all three buildings in 2019.

A Wakihonjin on the Hokkoku Kaido

The Hokkoku Kaido left the Nakasendō highway at Oiwake and ran about 140 kilometres to Takada in Echigo, carrying salt and rice inland and pilgrims toward Zenkōji Temple (Kumeya). Once alternate attendance became law, the lords of Kaga, Takada and other domains on the Sea of Japan side travelled it to and from Edo.

Each post town kept a honjin, reserved for daimyo, court nobles and guests of the highest rank, and a wakihonjin one step below it. Kumeya's own account says retainers and officials lodged at the wakihonjin, and that townspeople could stay as well. Wooden lodging plaques from the late Edo period survive here, naming retainers of the Kaga domain whose party used the Former Komoro Wakihonjin.

In its notes on the main house, the Agency describes the building as recalling, together with the honjin, the look of an early modern post town. The post-station office of the Komoro-juku honjin also stands on the same street in Ichimachi, a short walk to the west.

The Three Buildings

The plot runs long and narrow northward from the Hokkoku Kaido (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The main house faces south onto the road; a corridor leads from its back to the detached reception room in the middle of the west side, with the storehouse to the east of that room. A courtyard lies behind the main house, and the detached room is reached by a tatami corridor that wraps around it (Kumeya).

• Main house (registration number 20-0560): two-storey timber, tiled roof, building area 275 square metres; late Edo period
• Detached reception room (20-0561): single-storey timber, tiled roof partly in metal sheet, building area 85 square metres; late Edo period
• Storehouse (20-0562): two-storey earthen-walled Dozo-zukuri building, tiled roof, building area 21 square metres; early Meiji period

All three were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Each building has its own page covering its structure and details.

Visiting

The buildings are still in use for overnight stays, so the guest rooms upstairs in the main house, in the detached reception room and in the storehouse can be seen inside only by guests (Kumeya). Kumeya takes guests from Thursday to Monday (Mondays only for bookings of five or more) and closes entirely on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Anyone can step into the earthen-floored front hall of the main house, which opens as the Chaya Kumeya tea room from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It closes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and for the winter from December 1 to the end of February. Members of the Komoro tourist guide association staff the tea room and are glad to talk about the wakihonjin's history. The pair of six-mat rooms in the main house can be booked as rental rooms. Smoking is not allowed anywhere on the premises. Kumeya publishes no rule on photography, so ask the staff before taking pictures indoors.

The street address is 1-2-24 Ichimachi, about a five-minute walk from Komoro Station or a six-minute drive from the Komoro interchange of the Jōshin'etsu Expressway (Kumeya). Parking for about two cars is kept for overnight guests.