Former Yamaguchi Kashichi Family Residence
The Former Yamaguchi Kashichi Family Residence (旧山口嘉七家住宅) in Ōkubo, Hino Town, Shiga Prefecture, is the home of a head clerk who served a Hino merchant house; its main house of 1820, north storehouse of 1822 and east storehouse of 1879 were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (structures) on February 17, 2022 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The three buildings were recommended by the Council for Cultural Affairs on November 19, 2021, and carry the consecutive registration numbers 25-0508 to 25-0510. The council singled out the house as an Edo-period clerk's residence that has seen little alteration. Hino Town lists the owner as a private individual.
Hino and Its Merchants
Hino Town explains that its three historic quarters, Murai, Ōkubo and Matsuo, grew out of the castle town of the Gamō clan and became a busy country town in the Edo period, known for lacquered Hino bowls and patent medicines. Merchants from Hino peddled these goods across northern Kantō and the Tōkai region, opened branch shops there, and kept their family seat at home.
A fire in 1756 destroyed about eight tenths of the town, and the streets seen today were rebuilt afterwards (Hino Town). The main house of the Former Yamaguchi Kashichi Family Residence went up some sixty years later, and the town's cultural property plan names the residence among the key buildings that record Hino's merchant history.
How the Residence Is Laid Out
The main house stands back from the street behind a small front garden (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Its original part has a low Tsushi-nikai upper floor under a Kirizuma-zukuri roof with the entrance on the long side (Hirairi); in 1939 a two-storey Irimoya-zukuri wing was added to the east.
Two storehouses stand behind it. The north storehouse occupies the northwest corner of the plot, while the east storehouse runs north to south and faces west (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Both are two-storey Dozo-zukuri buildings finished in white Shikkui plaster with a Hachimaki band under the eaves, and both have a torii-shaped door frame and Kakegonuri doors. Each building has its own page.
Visiting and Getting There
The Former Yamaguchi Kashichi Family Residence is a private home (Hino Town), and no official information on interior access was found. Please view it from the street and do not enter the property.
The address is 1086 Ōkubo, Hino Town. Measured from map coordinates, it lies about 3 km east of Hino Station on the Ohmi Railway Main Line, and about 500 m east of the Ohmi Hino Merchant Museum at Ōkubo 1011.
References
- Former Yamaguchi Kashichi Family Residence Main House (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00014182
- Former Yamaguchi Kashichi Family Residence North Storehouse (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00014183
- Former Yamaguchi Kashichi Family Residence East Storehouse (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00014184
- Council for Cultural Affairs report on new registrations, November 19, 2021 (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japanese)
- https://www.bunka.go.jp/seisaku/bunkazai/shokai/yukei_kenzobutsu/pdf/93601801_02.pdf
- Hino Town Cultural Property Preservation and Utilization Plan, Chapter 1 (Hino Town, Japanese)
- https://www.town.shiga-hino.lg.jp/cmsfiles/contents/0000008/8039/hino-bunkazaikeikaku_11.pdf
- Hino Town Cultural Property Preservation and Utilization Plan, Chapter 3 (Hino Town, Japanese)
- https://www.town.shiga-hino.lg.jp/cmsfiles/contents/0000008/8039/hino-bunkazaikeikaku_13.pdf
- Hino Town Cultural Property Preservation and Utilization Plan, list of cultural properties (Hino Town, Japanese)
- https://www.town.shiga-hino.lg.jp/cmsfiles/contents/0000008/8039/hino-bunkazaikeikaku_20.pdf
Last verified: 2026.11.01
Basic Information
| Name | Former Yamaguchi Kashichi Family Residence |
|---|---|
| Location | 1086 Okubo, Hino-cho, Gamo-gun, Shiga Prefecture |
| Owner | Private owner |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (3) |
| Coordinates | 35.01126, 136.25327 |
