Naramachi Nigiwai-no-Ie

Naramachi Nigiwai-no-Ie

Naramachi Nigiwai-no-Ie (奈良町にぎわいの家, also written Naramachi Nigiwai no Ie) is a townhouse completed in 1917 in Nakanoshinyacho, Nara City, Nara Prefecture, and its main house, annex, waiting arbor and storehouse were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on May 2, 2017 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). All four are owned by Nara City and carry the consecutive registration numbers 29-0249 to 29-0252.

The house belonged to the Ōsumi family, antique dealers. According to the facility's guide leaflet, the family first appears as Sumiya Zenshichi in a neighbourhood document of 1857, and an 1899 directory of Nara businesses lists Ōsumi Yasusaburō among the antique dealers. The family bought adjoining plots several times during the Meiji era; once the present site was complete in 1912, it seems to have rebuilt the whole house.

The Ōsumi family left in 1973, but the house stayed in use as a home until Nara City bought it in 2013. After repairs it opened in April 2015, and Naramachi Nigiwai-no-Ie now hosts seasonal displays, tea gatherings and talks (Nara City).

A Street Laid over a Temple Precinct

Nakanoshinyacho is one of the three Shinya neighbourhoods, with Nishinoshinyacho and Shibashinyacho. The leaflet explains that houses spread over the core of the Gangōji temple compound as the temple declined, between the late Muromachi and early Edo periods. The street outside Naramachi Nigiwai-no-Ie still runs into the site of the temple's former Golden Hall a short way south and splits east and west around it.

The same street is the Kamikaidō, a highway that ran from Sarusawa Pond south through the Nara Basin. It stayed busy from the Edo period into modern times and carried pilgrims bound for Ise; when Naramachi Nigiwai-no-Ie was built in the Taishō era, this stretch is said to have been a prime commercial address in old Nara.

How the Four Buildings Fit Together

The Naramachi Nigiwai-no-Ie Main House faces east near the south end of the street. It is an Omoteya-zukuri townhouse, with a shop wing on the street joined to the living quarters behind by an entrance hall (Agency for Cultural Affairs). North of the facade runs a high wall with a small wicket gate, and behind it the waiting arbor faces south; wall, arbor and the tea room of the main house together form a tea garden, or Roji.

Behind the main house, across a courtyard, the annex faces east and is linked to it by a covered corridor. The storehouse stands just south of the annex, also facing east and joined to the same corridor (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Its registered address is 19-2 Nishinoshinyacho, while the other three are at 5-1 Nakanoshinyacho, but the buildings of Naramachi Nigiwai-no-Ie are all linked by these corridors.

The storehouse is the oldest of the four and dates from the late Edo period. For the Taishō rebuilding, a ridge tablet and inscriptions found in the roof spaces show that the annex was framed in 1913 and the main house in 1917. The waiting arbor was planned together with the tea room of the main house and built around 1917 (Agency for Cultural Affairs; guide leaflet).

Visiting

Naramachi Nigiwai-no-Ie is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and admission is free. It closes on Wednesdays (opening on public holidays), from December 29 to January 3, and on occasional extra days (official website; Nara City).

The walk from Kintetsu Nara Station takes about 13 minutes heading south, and about 20 minutes from JR Nara Station. By bus, Tanakacho stop on the Nara Kotsu city loop is 5 minutes away on foot, and the Naramachi Gangoji stop of the Nara Park Gurutto Bus, which runs mainly on weekends and holidays, is 2 minutes away. There is no parking (official website).

Naramachi Nigiwai-no-Ie is an old townhouse with steps and stepping stones, and the staff ask visitors to watch their footing and not to touch the displays. We found no official guidance on photography. The facility's English site mentions a free English guide on Friday afternoons. Each building has its own page covering what to look for and how much of it is open.