Shojukan Mizuya
Shojukan Mizuya is a kitchen building of the early Meiji era in Tatsutachō, Gokashō, Higashiōmi City, Shiga Prefecture, entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 4 February 2021. Single-storey timber construction with a tiled roof and a building area of 93 square metres, it adjoins the Doma earth floor on the western side of the main house.
Only the main house, at 114 square metres, covers more ground. That the second largest building on the estate is the kitchen says a good deal about how this household ran.
A Kitchen Given a Building of Its Own
The southern half of Shojukan Mizuya was made by pushing the earth-floored work area of the main house westward into one continuous volume. The original floor had run short, a wall came down, and the space carried on outdoors. The extension survives as continuity rather than as a joint.
The floor is paved throughout with cut granite. Not rammed earth, but stone, laid edge to edge. For a room that handles water this is practical, yet full granite paving was an expensive specification. Into it go a sink and a well, with two cooking stoves set along the south side.
In the southeast corner is an itanoma, a boarded platform cut into the earth floor so that work could be done seated. The register says it conveys the texture of daily life as it was lived. Working kitchens rarely survive, because they are the first thing a renovation replaces, and that is precisely why Shojukan Mizuya was judged worth registering.
What to Look For
Watch your feet. The granite slabs vary in size, and following the joints tells you roughly where the paving was begun.
The two stoves stand together on the south side. Compare the height of the fireboxes and the diameter of the openings that take the pots, and it is clear the pair were used for different jobs.
Find the well. Sink, stoves and well all sit within one earth floor, so the number of steps between drawing water and using it is small. Shojukan Mizuya is a kitchen whose circulation was thought about. The route to the north storehouse leads out through this same floor.
Visiting
Shojukan Mizuya continues directly from the earth floor of the main house and is seen together with it while the Merchant Museum, Kyōrinbō Betsuin is open. Being an earth floor, part of it is walked with shoes on. Openings are weekends and public holidays in spring and autumn, with dates posted on the Kyōrinbō website.
Photography is permitted. The interior is dark, so the joints between the granite slabs register better when light is coming in from the southern openings. Directions and admission details are on the Shojukan page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Shiga
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Shojukan Mizuya
- [ Hikone Castle & Lake Biwa Cruise Experiences ]
Q&A
- What is Shojukan Mizuya?
- The kitchen building on the west side of the main house. Its granite-paved earth floor holds a sink, a well and two cooking stoves. At 93 square metres it is the second largest building on the estate.
- When was Shojukan Mizuya built?
- In the early Meiji era, by extending the earth floor of the main house westward.
- How many cooking stoves are there in Shojukan Mizuya?
- Two, set along the south side of the earth floor.
- What is the itanoma in Shojukan Mizuya?
- A boarded platform in the southeast corner of the earth floor, where household work could be done sitting down. It is cited as one of the features that convey how the house was actually lived in.
- Can visitors go inside Shojukan Mizuya?
- Yes, as a continuation of the main house route during the opening season, which runs on weekends and public holidays in spring and autumn.
Basic Information
| Name | Shojukan Mizuya |
|---|---|
| Location | 396-1 Motoyashiki, Tatsutacho, Gokasho, Higashiomi City, Shiga Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 4 February 2021 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 93 square metres |
| Owner | Private (not disclosed in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database) |
| Public Access | Open in limited spring and autumn seasons (Merchant Museum, Kyorinbo Betsuin) |
References
- National Designated Cultural Properties Database: Shojukan Mizuya (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00013572
- Merchant Museum, Kyorinbo Betsuin (official temple website)
- https://kyourinbo.jimdofree.com/home/kyorinbo-betsuin-merchant-museum/
Last verified: 2026.09.13
