Former Baba Family Residence

What Is the Former Baba Family Residence?

The Former Baba Family Residence (旧馬場家住宅, Kyū-Baba-ke Jūtaku) is the estate of a kitamaebune shipowning and shipping-agent family in Higashiiwasemachi, Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture, rebuilt after a fire in 1873, and five of its structures were listed as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on August 1, 2016.

The lot runs deep, from Omachi Street on the east to what was once the bank of the Jinzu River on the west. The main house and the front storehouse face the street. Behind them lie a garden, a double storehouse, and a rice storehouse in the far northwest corner, and a gate and wall close off the western edge.

Toyama City, the present owner, says the main house was probably rebuilt with timbers salvaged from the house that burned. After about three years of repair work, the Former Baba Family Residence opened to the public in January 2021.

The Dōshōya House and Baba Haru

The Babas traded under the house name Dōshōya, taken from Dōshō, the village the family lived in before settling in Iwase. From the late Edo period they both owned kitamaebune, the cargo ships that sailed the Sea of Japan between Hokkaido and Osaka, and acted as shipping agents in port, arranging vessels and buying and selling cargo.

The seventh head, Kyūbei, expanded the ship trade in the early 19th century. In the mid-Meiji era the next generation moved from sail to steam, and in 1903 the family founded the Baba Limited Partnership Company as a modern shipping firm. The Babas are counted first among the "five great houses" of Iwase and as one of the five leading kitamaebune owners of the Hokuriku coast.

The best-known member of the household is Baba Haru (1886 to 1971), wife of the ninth head. Widowed in 1919 at the age of 33, she ran the family and gave generously. In 1923 she offered 1 million yen toward founding a higher school in Toyama, which had none. Her gifts eventually reached 1.6 million yen, and the old-system Toyama High School opened in 1924. She also donated the personal library of Lafcadio Hearn, now the Hearn Library at Toyama University.

How the Former Baba Family Residence Is Laid Out

Reading the Agency for Cultural Affairs descriptions alongside the city's floor plan, the five registered structures line up roughly east to west:

• Main House: a two-storey timber house facing Omachi Street, with a 30-meter earthen passage running west along its north side
• Front Storehouse (Maegura): a three-storey earthen storehouse just north of the main house, its long side to the street
• First and Second Storehouses (Ichibangura and Nibangura): a single south-facing earthen building with two separate storage bays, northwest of the main house
• Rice Storehouse (Komegura): a large single-storey storehouse at the back of the lot
• West Gate and West Wall: a roofed gate and a 37-meter wall along the western boundary

A road now runs outside the west gate. When the kitamaebune trade was at its height, though, the city notes that this side of the Former Baba Family Residence faced the Jinzu River, so cargo could move straight between boats and storehouses. The gate and wall looked onto the river until the early Showa era.

The main house, front storehouse, and west gate and wall were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape. The double storehouse and rice storehouse were registered as models of form. A miso storehouse on the city's plan is not part of the registration. Each registered structure has its own page.

Visiting the Former Baba Family Residence

The Former Baba Family Residence is about a 10-minute walk from Higashi-Iwase Station on the Toyama Chihō Railway's Toyamakō Line, or about 15 minutes from Iwasehama Station. Trams on the line run directly from Toyama Station.

It is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with last entry at 4:30 p.m., and closes for the New Year holidays (December 28 to January 4) and occasional unscheduled days. Admission is 100 yen for adults, 90 yen each for groups of 20 or more, and free for high school students and younger (checked September 2026). The combined ticket with the neighboring Mori residence is not on sale while that house is closed.

Staff give guided explanations as a rule between 10:30 a.m. and noon and between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Groups of 20 or more are asked to phone ahead. Several rooms in the main house can be rented for events.

Drivers can use the small shared lot behind the Mori residence, though only two spaces are available during seismic work there. The alternative is the lot beside Iwase Chuo Park, an 8-minute walk away. The official information does not say if photography is permitted inside, so ask at the reception desk.