Shirayuri Women's University Megumi so (former Main House of

Shirayuri University Megumi-so (Former Kikuchi Residence Main Hall): A Traveled Farmhouse with Three Lives in Tokyo

Hidden inside the wooded campus of Shirayuri University in suburban Chofu, Tokyo, stands a remarkable wooden farmhouse that has, in a sense, lived three lives. Known today as "Megumi-so," this broad, low-slung residence with its softly pitched tile roof was originally the main hall of the Kikuchi family, hereditary village headmen and local magistrates in Izu Shuzenji. In 1930 it was disassembled, transported across the mountains, and rebuilt on what was then the estate of a pioneering pharmaceutical entrepreneur. Decades later, it was moved yet again on the same grounds to make way for a university campus. A rare survivor of early-Meiji rural domestic architecture, it was officially registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan in 2014.

The Kikuchi Family of Izu Shuzenji

The original home of this building was Shuzenji, the atmospheric hot-spring town in the Izu Peninsula often called "Little Kyoto of Izu." Shuzenji carries more than 1,200 years of history and is closely tied to the rise and fall of the Kamakura shogunate — Minamoto no Yoriie, the second shogun, was confined and ultimately killed there in the early 13th century. It remains one of the most evocative historical towns in the Kanto region.

Against this deeply historical backdrop, the Kikuchi family served for generations as nanushi (village headmen) and later as local magistrates (daikan). These were the officials entrusted with overseeing tax collection, mediating disputes, managing village affairs, and acting as the interface between the common people and the domain authorities. Their residence was therefore not simply a farmhouse but a semi-public building where petitioners, travelers, and officials were received. That administrative role is written directly into the architecture of the main hall.

A House that Moved Across Mountains: From Shuzenji to Sengawa

The story of the building's journey to Tokyo is a distinctly modern one, bound up with Japan's pharmaceutical history. Tsumura Jusha I (1871–1941) founded Tsumura Juntendo — today's Tsumura & Co., one of Japan's leading traditional medicine makers — in Nihonbashi in 1893. In 1924 he established the Tsumura Medicinal Plant Garden in Sengawa, on the western outskirts of Tokyo, to cultivate and study the herbs used in kampo (traditional herbal medicine). The garden grew rapidly; at its peak in 1940, it covered roughly 230,000 tsubo (about 760,000 square meters) and was said to be the largest medicinal plant garden in East Asia.

In 1930, Tsumura acquired the Kikuchi family main hall and had it carefully dismantled in Shuzenji, transported overland, and reassembled within the plant-garden grounds. After the Second World War, land reforms broke up the garden; in 1964, a portion of the site was purchased by Shirayuri Women's University. In 1967, a further move — this time using the traditional Japanese hikiya (house-sliding) technique — shifted the entire structure to its current location on campus to accommodate new university buildings. The name "Megumi-so," meaning "House of Grace," dates from this period under Catholic-founded Shirayuri.

Why It Was Designated a Registered Tangible Cultural Property

On April 25, 2014, the Agency for Cultural Affairs registered Megumi-so as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan (building), registration number 13-0337. The designation criterion applied was that the structure "serves as a model of architectural design" — in other words, that it preserves, in remarkably complete form, the formal features of a high-status rural main hall of its era.

Three points stood out in the evaluation. First, the building dates to the early Meiji period (1868–1882), but retains architectural conventions rooted in the late Edo period, making it a valuable transitional document. Second, its plan is an exceptionally well-preserved example of the roku-madori, or six-room layout, a standard format for large headmen's residences — a format that has become increasingly rare even in Izu itself. Third, traces of a shikidai (a stepped formal entrance reserved for visitors of rank) survive in the central room, directly testifying to the Kikuchi family's semi-official role.

Architectural Highlights

A Low-Slung Tile Roof with a Raised Monitor

Seen from the garden, Megumi-so presents a broad, calm silhouette. The wooden single-story structure covers 228 square meters under a pantile roof (sangawara-buki), from which rises a smaller secondary roof called a koshi-yane, or monitor roof. In traditional farmhouses, this raised structure allowed smoke from the indoor hearth to escape and brought indirect light into the upper timbers. Its silhouette gives the exterior its characteristically grounded, rural dignity.

The Doma and the Great Central Pillar

Stepping through the heavy wooden entrance doors, visitors first enter the doma — a spacious earthen-floored work area that occupied the left side of any large farmhouse. This was where rice was hulled, tools were repaired, and visitors waited. Separating the doma from the raised interior is an immense central pillar called the daikokubashira, so thick that a grown adult cannot easily wrap both arms around it. This pillar, together with massive exposed beams overhead, is the structural heart of the house and its most visually striking feature.

The Six-Room Plan and the Traces of the Shikidai

Above the raised floor, the building unfolds in the classic six-room arrangement. Two formal zashiki (tatami reception rooms) face the front, wrapped by a wooden engawa veranda that mediates between interior and garden. Behind them lie the middle rooms and the family's more private spaces. In the naka-no-ma, or central room, traces of the original shikidai have been preserved — a subtle but important detail that shows how formal visitors would once have been received here, a ceremonial threshold that distinguished this house from an ordinary farmhouse.

Visiting Megumi-so

Megumi-so stands within an active university campus and is not generally open to the public. However, each year it opens its doors for a limited number of days as part of Tokyo Cultural Heritage Week, a city-wide program organized by the Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education. In recent years, the special openings have typically taken place over two days in late October, in two viewing slots (approximately 10:00–12:00 and 13:00–15:00). Admission has been free and, in recent editions, advance reservations have not been required — though photography is restricted to the building itself.

On opening days visitors enter through the East Gate (not the main gate) and follow on-site signage to the house. Travelers planning to include Megumi-so in a Tokyo itinerary are strongly encouraged to check the university's official news page in advance to confirm the current year's dates and access rules. Outside of the public openings, the building continues to be used by the university's tea ceremony and flower arrangement clubs, so it remains a living piece of architecture rather than a static museum.

Around Sengawa: What Else to See Nearby

Megumi-so is a short walk from Sengawa Station on the Keio Line, in one of Tokyo's quieter and more cultured western suburbs. Sengawa itself has developed a reputation as a café town: Sarutahiko Coffee Atelier Sengawa, together with major chains, anchors the area around the station, and "Harmony Road," the 400-meter shopping street that stretches from the train line toward Toho Gakuen, has more than 200 independent shops, bakeries, and restaurants. The presence of Toho Gakuen — one of Japan's most prestigious music conservatories — gives the district a distinctive cultural atmosphere, and it is common to see students walking through the streets with instruments.

A little further afield, the area around Chofu offers several excellent cultural detours. Jindai Botanical Gardens, with their famous rose beds, are a short bus ride away. Jindaiji Temple, founded in the 8th century and one of the oldest temples in the Tokyo area, sits beside the gardens and is famous for soba noodles made with local water. For travelers spending a full day in the western suburbs, these sites combine naturally with a visit to Megumi-so on a public opening day.