Former Baba Family Residence Main House

What Is the Former Baba Family Residence Main House?

The Former Baba Family Residence Main House (旧馬場家住宅主屋, Kyū-Baba-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is an early Meiji-era (1868 to 1882) shipping merchant's house in Higashiiwasemachi, Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on August 1, 2016.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records it as a two-storey timber building with a tiled roof, a building area of 512 square meters, and an attached wall, remodeled in the early Showa era (1926 to 1945). Its description says the house is thought to have been rebuilt after the 1873 fire, and calls it the largest residence in Higashi-Iwase.

Along Omachi Street the facade is screened by sumushiko, lattices fitted with bamboo blinds. The treatment is common to the old merchant houses of Iwase; the Baba main house is simply the biggest of them.

Why the Former Baba Family Residence Main House Was Registered

The Former Baba Family Residence Main House was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The agency points to its imposing street front, which helps define the look of this old port town.

The description also sets out the plan. At the core is a square block of rooms three across and four deep, facing east. An earthen-floored passage runs along the north side, and living rooms project to the west. The interiors are finished in lacquered Sukiya-zukuri, the refined style associated with tea architecture.

Walking through, you move from business rooms at the front to reception rooms at the back. Shop, household, and guest quarters all sit under one roof, laid out the way a prosperous kitamaebune family needed them.

What to See in the Former Baba Family Residence Main House

The first thing you meet inside the Baba main house is the toriniwa, the earthen passage running straight back along the north side. It is 30 meters long and 2.7 meters wide, lit by skylights, and on a bright late morning the far end glows.

Off the passage opens the oi, a 33-mat hall restored to its Edo-period form, where heavy beams cross overhead. The mise, the old shop room at the front of the hall, was remodeled in a Western manner during the Meiji era.

Further back, the formal reception rooms and the shinzashiki, an extension of the early Showa era, are joined by a long L-shaped veranda looking onto the garden. The shinzashiki's delicate fittings and decorated washroom reflect the fashions of its day.

The city's leaflet also includes a view toward the harbor from a window on the upper floor.

Visiting the Former Baba Family Residence Main House

The Former Baba Family Residence Main House is the core of any visit. Your admission ticket covers the passage, the oi, the reception rooms, and the shinzashiki, and the reception desk and a small exhibit on the family's history are inside the house.

Staff explanations are offered as a rule between 10:30 a.m. and noon and between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. Several rooms can be rented for events; the wooden-floored room, for example, costs 1,650 yen for a 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. slot (checked September 2026).

The official information does not mention photography rules, so ask at the desk before taking pictures indoors.