The Oil Merchant's Shop and House
The Former Mikawaya Shoten Store and Residence (旧三河屋商店店舗兼住宅) is the shop and house of a rapeseed-oil wholesaler of the late Edo period in Higashimachi, Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on October 18, 2006 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The Agency records a two-storey timber building with a tile roof and a building area of 169 square meters, dated to the late Edo period and moved by hikiya (whole, without dismantling) in 1996; registration number 20-0260.
A Plastered Townhouse Nine Bays Wide
The Former Mikawaya Shoten Store and Residence is a two-storey Nuriya-zukuri townhouse, its timber frame sealed in plaster, 9 ken wide and four and a half ken deep (a ken is one traditional bay). It has a gabled roof of pantiles with the entrance on the long side and a canopy 1 ken deep along the front (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The doorway sits in the middle of the ground floor; to its left, the space under the canopy has been taken into the rooms.
A through passage with an earth floor, the tori-doma, runs down the middle of the ground floor with rooms on either side. According to the Nagano City Museum, the shop lay to the left as you face the house, followed toward the back by the choba (counting room), a reception room that also held the family altar, and the family's living room. Upstairs are a hall of 24 tatami mats and further rooms.
Why It Was Registered
The Agency registered the Former Mikawaya Shoten Store and Residence, built as the shop and home of an oil wholesaler, as a model of design.
The Nagano City Museum, following local tradition, dates the main house to about three years of rebuilding after the Zenkoji Earthquake of 1847, and regards it as an important record of how a merchant family of the temple town lived at the end of the Edo period. A frontage of 9 ken shows the scale of a business that dealt directly with the street.
What to Look For
Standing in front of the Former Mikawaya Shoten Store and Residence, the first thing to register is the width: 9 ken of frontage under a canopy that runs the length of the street side. Left of the doorway the canopy shelters rooms rather than open eaves, so the two halves of the facade read differently.
Inside, follow the tori-doma back and look at the sequence of rooms opening off it, shop first, then the counting room and the reception room, a plan that moves from trade at the front to family life behind.
Visiting
The Former Mikawaya Shoten Store and Residence is open as the main house of the Oirai-kan (門前商家ちょっ蔵おいらい館), an annex of the Nagano City Museum, whose displays include the preserved merchant house and a re-created counting room (Nagano City Museum).
The Oirai-kan rents out a 24-mat upstairs room by the half day. No official guidance on photography was found. Opening hours and directions are on the Former Mikawaya Shoten page.
Q&A
- When was the Former Mikawaya Shoten Store and Residence built?
- The Agency dates it to the late Edo period; local tradition, cited by the Nagano City Museum, says it was rebuilt over about three years after the Zenkoji Earthquake of 1847.
- What is the layout of the Former Mikawaya Shoten Store and Residence?
- An earth-floored passage runs down the middle of the ground floor with rooms on both sides; upstairs are a 24-mat hall and other rooms (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- Can I go inside the Former Mikawaya Shoten Store and Residence?
- Yes. It is open as the Oirai-kan, an annex of the Nagano City Museum, and admission is free.
- Why was the Former Mikawaya Shoten Store and Residence moved?
- A road-widening scheme took in the plot, so from 1996 the buildings were turned 90 degrees and moved whole onto the land to the east (Nagano City Museum).
- When was the Former Mikawaya Shoten Store and Residence registered?
- On October 18, 2006 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Basic Information
| Name | Former Mikawaya Shoten Store and Residence (旧三河屋商店店舗兼住宅) |
|---|---|
| Location | 165-3 Nagano Higashimachi, Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2006/10/18 (Heisei 18) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, two storeys, tile roof, building area 169 m² |
| Owner | Nagano City |
| Public Access | Open to the public as the Oirai-kan (free admission) |
References
- Former Mikawaya Shoten Store and Residence (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00005829
- Former Mikawaya Shoten Store and Residence (Cultural Heritage Online, Japanese)
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/152435
- Preserving the Merchant House (Nagano City Museum, Japanese)
- https://www.city.nagano.nagano.jp/museum/oirai/02_hozon.html
- Outline of the Merchant House (Nagano City Museum, Japanese)
- https://www.city.nagano.nagano.jp/museum/oirai/03_gaiyou.html
- Oirai-kan: Guide for Users (Nagano City Museum, Japanese)
- https://www.city.nagano.nagano.jp/museum/oirai/04_riyou.html
Last verified: 2026.11.03
