Rikyudo Sakai Family Residence

A Country Doctor's Household

The Rikyudo Sakai Family Residence (利久堂酒井家住宅, Rikyūdō Sakai-ke Jūtaku) is a homestead in Kawai Shinden, Nagano City, built around 1887, whose Main House, Nagayamon Gate, Garden Wall, Storehouse and Miso Storehouse were entered on Japan's list of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in 2001. It stands on flat ground southeast of central Nagano, a short way from the left bank of the Sai River.

The builders were the Kitamura family, an old local lineage that ran a medical practice here from the Meiji era onward. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes all five structures as belonging to the former Kitamura household. The registered name reflects the present: Rikyudo is the company that owns the property today, and Sakai is the family name now attached to it. Public records do not say when or how the estate passed from the Kitamura family to the Sakai family.

What makes the Rikyudo Sakai Family Residence worth a closer look is the way it fits a doctor's surgery inside the shell of a silk-farming house. The gate, wall and storehouses all date from the same period as the Main House, so the compound still reads as a single, planned layout.

Five Registrations, Three Criteria

All five structures of the Rikyudo Sakai Family Residence were registered on November 20, 2001, under consecutive numbers 20-0100 through 20-0104. The official gazette notice followed on December 4, which is the date Nagano City uses in its own list.

The buildings were not all registered for the same reason. The registration system recognizes three criteria, and this one compound uses every one of them. The Main House and the Miso Storehouse were judged to be models of their building type. The Nagayamon Gate and the Garden Wall were valued for their contribution to the historic landscape. The Storehouse was listed as a structure that would be difficult to reproduce today.

Each building's own page explains how it meets its criterion.

How the Rikyudo Sakai Family Residence Is Laid Out

The Main House, with a building area of 283 square meters, sits at the center of the Rikyudo Sakai Family Residence. Its formal entrance with a Shikidai step faces front, and a raised ventilating roof runs along the ridge, a feature associated with farmhouses that raised silkworms.

South of the house, the Nagayamon Gate stretches east to west for about 25 meters, closing off the southern edge of the grounds. Judging by the layout, a visitor would pass through it into the forecourt and walk straight toward the entrance step.

The Garden Wall links the two. It runs from beside the entrance south toward the gate, then turns east just short of it, screening the formal garden in front of the reception rooms from the forecourt. The wall is 18 meters long and has a small middle gate whose roof rises a step above the rest.

The storehouses cluster northwest of the house. The two-storey Storehouse runs north to south, and the small Miso Storehouse stands against its southern side. One held household equipment, the other held the family's miso, a reminder that this doctor's household also stocked food and tools the way a farming family would.

Visiting the Rikyudo Sakai Family Residence

The Rikyudo Sakai Family Residence is privately owned by a company, and neither the owner nor Nagano City has announced public opening days or a visitor program (checked September 2026). Treat the grounds as closed, and if you look from outside, keep in mind that this is still a private home.

The site lies about 2.6 km southeast of JR Nagano Station in a straight line. The Hachijuni Culture Foundation's heritage guide gives the trip as about 10 minutes by car from JR Nagano Station. No parking is provided, so avoid stopping on the roadside.

Questions about access or research visits can go to the Cultural Properties Division of Nagano City (026-224-7013). Where to stand and what to look for at each building is covered on the individual building pages.