Kawasaki Mutsuo Family Residence

What Is the Kawasaki Mutsuo Family Residence?

The Kawasaki Mutsuo Family Residence (川崎睦男家住宅, Kawasaki Mutsuo-ke Jūtaku) is a townhouse estate facing the old Tokaido highway in Tehara, Ritto City, Shiga Prefecture, whose four buildings, led by a main house built in 1903, were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on 21 April 1998. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database spells the family name with a variant character, 川﨑.

Tehara lies between Ishibe-juku and Kusatsu-juku, the 51st and 52nd post towns of the Tokaido, the Edo-period trunk road from Edo to Kyoto. The Ritto City Tourism Association describes this stretch through Ritto as a place once known as an ai-no-shuku, a rest stop between official post towns. The street in front of the Kawasaki Mutsuo Family Residence follows the line of that old road.

The registration covers the main house, the east storehouse, the detached wing and the north storehouse, built over roughly half a century from the mid-Meiji period to the early Showa period. Together they keep a whole Machiya property intact, from the street frontage to the private rooms at the back.

Four Registered Buildings

All four buildings of the Kawasaki Mutsuo Family Residence became Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in the 9th round of registrations on 21 April 1998, under the consecutive numbers 25-0029 to 25-0032; the official gazette notice followed on 9 June 1998. The main house was registered as a model of form, and the other three for their contribution to the historic landscape. The agency's database gives these dates and sizes:

• Main house: 1903 (Meiji 36), wooden, single-storey, tiled roof, 151 square meters
• East storehouse: mid-Meiji period, earthen-walled, 2 storeys, tiled roof, 20 square meters
• Detached wing: early Showa period, wooden, 2 storeys, tiled roof, 35 square meters
• North storehouse: early Showa period, earthen-walled, 2 storeys, tiled roof, 40 square meters

Only the main house has an exact year; the other three are dated to a period. Ritto City's list of cultural properties groups the four together as Meiji and Showa buildings.

How the Estate Is Laid Out

The main house of the Kawasaki Mutsuo Family Residence stands at the front of the lot along the old Tokaido. According to the agency, a visitor looking in from the street sees the east storehouse to the right of the main house and a single-storey wing to the left, with the north storehouse and the detached reception rooms behind. The single-storey wing on the left is not part of the registration.

Only the main house and the east storehouse face the street. The east storehouse turns its gable end toward the road, so its white plastered gable sits beside the lattice front of the main house. The north storehouse and the detached wing stand behind the main house and join each other along the north and northwest edges of the lot.

The buildings grow younger as you move back from the street. The Meiji main house and east storehouse first set the frontage on the highway, and in the early Showa years the north storehouse and the detached wing filled in the rear of the property.

Visiting and Getting There

The Kawasaki Mutsuo Family Residence is privately owned and not open to the public. Visitors cannot enter the grounds, and none of the four interiors can be seen. We found no notice of open days on Ritto City's pages.

From outside you can see the main house and the east storehouse, which face the old Tokaido. The north storehouse and the detached wing are hidden behind the main house and can hardly be seen from the street. This is a family home, so please stay on the public road and look quietly from there.

The nearest station is Tehara on the JR Kusatsu Line, one stop from Kusatsu. The Kawasaki Mutsuo Family Residence is about 300 meters southwest of the station in a straight line, on the old Tokaido that runs east to west south of the tracks; allow about 5 minutes on foot.