Fujita Yoshihiro Family Residence

The Fujita Yoshihiro Family Residence

The Fujita Yoshihiro Family Residence (藤田佳宏家住宅, Fujita Yoshihiro-ke Jūtaku) in Gotsu-cho, Gotsu City, Shimane Prefecture, is a house whose main building dates from the late Edo period (1830 to 1867); together with a storehouse, a barn and a front gate with an earthen wall from the Meiji era, it was registered in 4 entries on January 15, 2010.

Each of the 4 entries was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property. Their registration numbers run consecutively from 32-0104 to 32-0107; all belong to the 66th round of registrations, gazetted on February 3, 2010, and all were registered for contributing to the historic landscape of the country (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Gotsu-cho also has a separately registered Fujita Family Residence (藤田家住宅, 328 Gotsucho and other lots), whose 8 entries were registered in 2009. Despite the similar name, it is a different property with different lot numbers and a different registration round. No public source explains how the two families are related.

How the Fujita Yoshihiro Family Residence Is Laid Out

Reading the Agency's descriptions together gives the plan of the Fujita Yoshihiro Family Residence. The Honmachi River flows along the front of the plot, and the earthen wall runs east to west on top of its embankment. The front gate stands toward the east end of that frontage, reached by a stone bridge over the river. The main house sits in the middle of the plot, facing north.

A privy wing runs back from the rear of the main house and links it to the storehouse in the southwest corner of the plot. The barn is attached to the east side of the storehouse, and the two stand on one continuous retaining wall of rough, uncut Nozurazumi stonework.

The Agency writes that the gate and wall give the house a dignified front, while the barn tidies the view from the back of the plot. The layout is easy to read: a formal face toward the river, a row of storehouse buildings on a stone base behind, and the main house between them.

The storehouse and barn are roofed with red Sekishū-gawara tiles from the Iwami region. For the main house and the gate and wall, the Agency's text says simply Sangawara-buki pantiles, while the Gotsu City Board of Education describes them as Sekishu tiles too.

The 4 Registered Structures

The Agency's database gives the following dates and sizes for the 4 entries of the Fujita Yoshihiro Family Residence.

• Main house: late Edo period, single-storey timber building, 132 square metres
• Storehouse: mid-Meiji period, 2-storey Dozo-zukuri building, 22 square metres
• Barn: mid-Meiji period, 2-storey dozo-zukuri building, 40 square metres
• Front gate and earthen wall: late Meiji period; the gate is 2.2 metres wide with a stone bridge, and the wall is 17 metres long

A 2014 list of cultural properties issued by the Gotsu City Board of Education places the main house before 1858. That makes the main house the oldest of the 4, with the storehouse, barn, gate and wall added after the Meiji era began. Each structure is described on its own page.

Gotsu Honmachi and the Fujita Yoshihiro Family Residence

The Fujita Yoshihiro Family Residence stands in Gotsu Honmachi, the old town near the mouth of the Gōno River (江の川). According to the Gotsu City Tourism Association, the town grew where river boats met coastal shipping on the Sea of Japan, and in the Edo period it was a port of call for kitamaebune trading ships and a shipping point for rice from shogunal lands.

Gotsu City notes that the street along the Honmachi River keeps former houses of shipping agents, with red roof tiles, white walls and black board fences. In 2003 the district was named a model area of the Yume Kaido Renaissance programme as the Tenryo Gotsu Honmachi Iraka Kaido. The earthen wall and front gate of the Fujita Yoshihiro Family Residence face this riverside street.

Visiting the Fujita Yoshihiro Family Residence

No official information on interior access to the Fujita Yoshihiro Family Residence was found, and there are no opening hours or fees. Visitors can see the buildings only from the public road. Please do not go inside the gate, and keep any photographs to the exterior as seen from the street.

The Honmachi district can be walked at any time free of charge (Gotsu City Tourism Association). Shimane Tourism Navi gives about 15 minutes on foot, or about 5 minutes by car, from Gotsu Station on the JR San'in Line to the Iraka Kaido. From Gotsu IC on the San'in Expressway, Shimane Tourism Navi gives about 5 minutes by car and the Gotsu City Tourism Association 10 minutes.

The tourism association states that the district has no parking, so walking from the station or taking a taxi is the simplest option. Enquiries about the townscape go to the Gotsu City Tourism Association (tel. 0855-52-0534), and Shimane Tourism Navi notes that guided walks of the district are available.