A Silkworm-Egg Dynasty's Home Ground
The Former Sato Family Residence (Fujimoto) is the estate of a silkworm-egg producing family in Kamishiojiri, Ueda, Nagano Prefecture, and six of its buildings, raised in the early and middle Meiji era, were each registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 15, 2024. In Japanese it is 旧佐藤家住宅（藤本）, Kyū Satō-ke Jūtaku (Fujimoto). The estate belongs to Fujimoto Kogyo Co., Ltd., a company descended from the family's own egg business.
Silk has three trades. Farmers raise silkworms to make cocoons, reelers draw thread from those cocoons, and a third, now largely forgotten trade supplies the farmers with eggs. Japanese call these eggs sanshu. Kamishiojiri, on the edge of the city of Ueda, built its reputation on that third trade. The head house of the Sato family, trading under the house name Fujimoto, is said to have started producing eggs in the Kanbun era (1661 to 1673), and other egg-producing households soon clustered around it.
The business turned global at the end of the Edo period. A silkworm disease called pébrine was wiping out European sericulture, and healthy Japanese eggs were in demand. Ueda City's heritage notes estimate that Ueda supplied roughly three in ten of the eggs Japan exported, most of them made here in Shiojiri. The family firm later became Fujimoto Sangyo Gomei Kaisha and kept producing until the silk industry faded in the mid-Showa period. The main line of the family has since died out.
An Estate With an Empty Center
There is no main house at the Former Sato Family Residence (Fujimoto). It burned in 1927, and the middle of the lot has stayed open ever since. What stood there can still be seen in Nihon Hakuran-zu, a series of copperplate views of prosperous households published in 1897, which shows the compound as the residence of the egg producer Fujimoto Zen'emon.
The six surviving buildings ring that empty center. A Yakuimon front gate faces south at the entrance, set back from the street at the end of a narrow lane. Silkworm Room No. 2 runs east to west along the south side of the lot, its entire ridge topped by a raised ventilation roof. Silkworm Room No. 1 stands in the middle on a north-south axis, with its Annex joined to the north. In the northwest corner, the Document Storehouse faces east, and the Miso Storehouse sits just west of it, also facing east.
The dates tell a story of growth. The two storehouses belong to the early Meiji era, both silkworm rooms were built in 1890, and the Annex and the gate date to the middle Meiji years. The gate was moved here in 1904, and according to the local newspaper it came all the way from Ibaraki Prefecture. Household storage came first; the rooms for the egg business were added as the trade expanded.
Why All Six Were Registered Together
The six carry consecutive registration numbers, 20-0650 through 20-0655, and share a single criterion: they contribute to the historic landscape of the country. The Council for Cultural Affairs recommended them on March 15, 2024, and registration took effect on August 15 that year.
The silkworm rooms are the heart of the case. Both keep their karo fire furnaces, slatted ceilings, and ventilation openings that could be opened and closed. The local press reports that logs and rice husks were burned in stone furnaces beneath the floor so the rearing racks would not chill on cold spring nights. Temperature and humidity decided the quality of the eggs, and these buildings were designed to control both.
Researchers from Shinshu University surveyed the estate before registration. A branch house of the same family, the Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki), stands close by and had nine of its structures registered in 2021; further documentary research then led to the listing of the head house. With both estates registered, visitors can compare how two households in the same trade organized their compounds.
Visiting and Getting There
The Former Sato Family Residence (Fujimoto) is private property owned by Fujimoto Kogyo, and none of the six buildings is open to the public. We could find no scheduled open days. Anyone hoping to visit needs to contact the owner first. The surrounding streets are a living residential neighborhood, so keep voices low if you walk past.
The family's papers are kept nearby at the Fujimoto Sericulture History Museum, a private archive opened in 2009 on the second floor of the company's office. It holds some 10,000 items, including documents and tools from egg production, and visits are by prior arrangement through Fujimoto Kogyo (phone 0268-24-2460). Part of the collection can be browsed online through the Fujimoto Sangyo Digital Commons.
The nearest station is Nishi-Ueda on the Shinano Railway, one stop and about 5 minutes from Ueda Station. The Ueda City Tourism Association notes that Kamishiojiri's old egg-producing houses begin about a 5-minute walk from the station. Nishi-Ueda itself opened in 1920 as Kita-Shiojiri Station, built at the request of local egg producers, and took its present name in 1956.
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Former Sato Family Residence (Fujimoto) Front Gate
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00015016
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Former Sato Family Residence (Fujimoto) Silkworm Room No. 1
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00015011
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Former Sato Family Residence (Fujimoto) Silkworm Room No. 1 Annex
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00015012
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Former Sato Family Residence (Fujimoto) Silkworm Room No. 2
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00015013
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Former Sato Family Residence (Fujimoto) Document Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00015014
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Former Sato Family Residence (Fujimoto) Miso Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00015015
- Toshin Journal: Former Sato Family Residence registered as a national cultural property (Japanese)
- https://tjournal.co.jp/local/ueda/post-17134/
- Weekly Ueda: Former Sato Family Residence (Fujimoto) and the silk history of Ueda (Japanese)
- https://www.weekly-ueda.com/post/%E8%9A%95%E9%83%BD%E4%B8%8A%E7%94%B0%E3%81%AE%E6%AD%B4%E5%8F%B2%E3%82%92%E7%89%A9%E8%AA%9E%E3%82%8B-%E6%97%A7%E4%BD%90%E8%97%A4%E5%AE%B6%E4%BD%8F%E5%AE%85%EF%BC%88%E8%97%A4%E6%9C%AC%EF%BC%89
- Ueda City Cultural Properties: Sato Family Residence (Mitsubiki) (Japanese)
- https://museum.umic.jp/bunkazai/document2/127.php
- Ueda City Tourism Association: Fujimoto Sericulture History Museum (Japanese)
- https://ueda-kanko.or.jp/spot/fujimotorekishikan/
- Ueda City Tourism Association: Model course tracing Ueda's silk heritage (Japanese)
- https://ueda-kanko.or.jp/modelcourse/modelcourse-855/
Last verified: 2026.09.25
Basic Information
| Name | Former Sato Family Residence (Fujimoto) |
|---|---|
| Location | 91 Minamigawa, Kamishiojiri, Ueda, Nagano Prefecture |
| Owner | Fujimoto Kogyo Co., Ltd. |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (6) |
| Coordinates | 36.41838, 138.21589 |
