Fukuda Family Residence Shop and Main House

A Merchant's Shop on the Old Reiheishi Kaido

The Fukuda Family Residence Shop and Main House (福田家住宅店棚及び主屋) is a merchant's shop and dwelling of the late Edo period in Kamizaimokucho, Kanuma City, Tochigi Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on July 25, 2011 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The Agency reads the name Fukuda-ke Jutaku Misedana oyobi Shuoku; Kanuma City reads the last word omoya.

The Agency records a timber building of 2 storeys, partly single-storey, roofed in tile, with a building area of 221 square metres; registration number 09-0194.

A Shop to the Street, a House Behind

The Fukuda Family Residence Shop and Main House stands in the former post town of Kanuma and faces west onto the old Reiheishi Kaido (Agency for Cultural Affairs). The shop, 9.6 metres wide, meets the street as a 2-storey timber building with a gabled roof (Kirizuma-zukuri). Behind it to the east runs the single-storey main house under a hipped roof (Yosemune-zukuri). Both are covered in pantiles (Sangawara-buki).

It dates from the late Edo period. The Agency records additions in the mid-Meiji and early Taisho years and alterations in the early Showa period. The published sources do not say which part belongs to which campaign.

According to Kanuma City, the Fukuda family traded as Sadoya, dealing in hemp and fertilizer and keeping a pawnshop from the early modern period. As the word misedana (shop) in the name suggests, the street-side building was the place of business.

Why It Was Registered

The Fukuda Family Residence Shop and Main House was registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency writes that it gives the street the composed look of a merchant house, and Kanuma City counts it among the leading merchant buildings in the city.

What to Look For

Start with the front of the Fukuda Family Residence Shop and Main House. A copper-roofed lean-to (Geya) projects over the ground floor, sheltering a deep earthen-floored space, and above it a broad lattice window runs across the upper wall (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Kanuma City adds that latticed doors line both floors. Tile on the main roof, copper on the lean-to and timber in the lattices give the facade three distinct layers.

Visiting

The Fukuda Family Residence Shop and Main House is privately owned, and neither the Agency nor Kanuma City gives information on interior access (checked November 2026). The shop front faces the public road of the old Reiheishi Kaido, so the exterior can be viewed from the street. The main house lies behind the shop, and how much of it shows from the road has not been confirmed.

There is no official guidance on photography either. This is private property, so stay off the grounds and look from the street. Directions from the stations are on the Fukuda Family Residence (Kanuma) page.