About the Former Kanaoka Family Residence Main House
The Former Kanaoka Family Residence Main House (旧金岡家住宅主屋, Kyū-Kanaoka-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is an early Meiji Machiya that combined a drug wholesaler's shop and family home at 1-5-24 Shinjocho, Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 1998.
The main house faces the road to the east. It is a wooden building of one storey with a partial second floor under a tiled roof, and its building area of 437 m² makes it the largest of the six registered structures on the Kanaoka estate.
A Meiji Shop Front That Survived
The Former Kanaoka Family Residence Main House was registered as a building that would be hard to reproduce. The Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that some parts, including the link to the neighbouring Shinya wing, were added when that wing went up, but that the house largely keeps its original form. Toyama Prefecture dates the upper floor and the linking section to the Taishō era.
Two things earned it the registration: the broad shop space, or mise, opening onto the street, and the reception rooms behind, finished with choice timbers and coloured plaster walls. Business at the front, family standing at the back.
The Shop and Its Wall of Drawers
Step into the Kanaoka main house and the mise is the first thing you see. The museum says it was restored as faithfully as possible to the early Meiji Kanaoka pharmacy, and that of the roughly 30 drug wholesalers once in Toyama City, it is the only surviving shop that still shows how they looked.
The front wall is filled by a hyakumi-dansu, literally a "hundred-flavour chest": rows upon rows of small drawers, each holding a different crude drug. The museum dates the medicine chest to 1860.
Let your eye run along the rows from end to end. The sheer number of drawers shows how many different ingredients a single wholesaler handled for the peddlers who carried Toyama medicine across Japan.
Fine Timber and Coloured Walls
Behind the shop lie the reception rooms of the Former Kanaoka Family Residence Main House. The Agency singles out their interiors, which pair prized timbers with coloured plaster.
Look at the grain of the posts and alcove members against the wall colours. The effect is a world away from the practical shop in front, and walking from one to the other shows how a town house fitted trade and household under a single roof.
Visiting the Former Kanaoka Family Residence Main House
The Former Kanaoka Family Residence Main House is the heart of the Kanaoka-tei museum, and its shop is lined with tools of the medicine trade and samples of crude drugs. The museum encourages souvenir photos in front of the drawer wall, and Toyama Kanko Navi says Kanaoka-tei happi coats can be borrowed free of charge.
Ask at the reception before photographing the other rooms. Opening days, admission and directions are on the Former Kanaoka Family Residence page.
Q&A
- When was the Former Kanaoka Family Residence Main House built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the early Meiji era, with parts added in the Taishō era. Toyama Prefecture says the upper floor and the link to the Shinya are Taishō additions.
- What kind of building is the Former Kanaoka Family Residence Main House?
- A large machiya town house facing the road, wooden, one storey with a partial second floor, tiled, 437 m² in area. The shop is at the front and the reception rooms at the back.
- Why is the Former Kanaoka Family Residence Main House a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It was registered in 1998 as a building that would be hard to reproduce, for its broad street-facing shop and its reception rooms finished with fine timber and coloured walls.
- What is the medicine chest in the Former Kanaoka Family Residence Main House?
- A hyakumi-dansu that fills the front wall of the shop with small drawers for crude drugs. The museum dates it to 1860.
- Can I take photos in the Former Kanaoka Family Residence Main House?
- The museum encourages souvenir photos in front of the drawer wall in the shop. Ask at the reception about other rooms.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Kanaoka Family Residence Main House (旧金岡家住宅主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 1-5-24 Shinjocho, Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | 1998 (registered) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 437 m² (wooden, single storey with partial second floor) |
| Owner | Toyama Prefecture |
| Public Access | Open (admission charged, as Kanaoka-tei) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): 旧金岡家住宅主屋
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00000580
- Cultural Heritage Online (Agency for Cultural Affairs): 旧金岡家住宅主屋
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/185310
- Toyama Cultural Heritage (Toyama Prefecture): 旧金岡家住宅主屋
- https://toyama-bunkaisan.jp/search/2360/
- Kanaoka-tei (Toyama Cultural Foundation): Facility overview
- https://www.bunka-toyama.jp/kanaoka/about/index.html
- Kanaoka-tei (Toyama Cultural Foundation): Traditional wooden architecture
- https://www.bunka-toyama.jp/kanaoka/facility/index.html
- Kanaoka-tei (Toyama Cultural Foundation): Souvenir photos
- https://www.bunka-toyama.jp/kanaoka/photo.html
Last verified: 2026.09.30
