Former Otani Family Residence

About the Former Otani Family Residence

The Former Otani Family Residence (旧大谷家住宅, Kyū Ōtani-ke Jūtaku) is a rural estate in Mizuochi, Oyabe City, Toyama Prefecture, built mainly in 1935, whose seven buildings and structures were entered on the register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on 26 March 2015. The estate is open to the public as the Oyabe City Otani Museum.

This is the birthplace of the businessmen Otani Yonetaro and his younger brother Otani Takejiro. Toyama Prefecture's heritage database introduces the pair as the founders of the Hotel New Otani among other ventures. According to Oyabe City, Yonetaro rebuilt the family home here in 1935, and his wife Haru lived in it until her death in 1957. The prefectural database tells the story slightly differently, describing the buildings as a residence the brothers built for their mother. The two accounts do not fully agree on who the house was built for.

In 2013 the house and grounds were donated to Oyabe City. After restoration, the estate opened as a museum in October 2014; the Agency for Cultural Affairs records 2013 repairs to the bathhouse and ash hut, which belong to that same campaign.

An Azumadachi Farmstead

The main house at the Former Otani Family Residence follows the Azumadachi type, a farmhouse form common on the Tonami Plain in western Toyama. The entrance sits under the gable end (Tsumairi), so the first thing a visitor sees is a broad tiled gable. Inside that gable, vertical posts, tie beams and cross beams form a timber grid, and the panels between are filled with white Shikkui plaster. Oyabe City notes that houses of this type traditionally turn their gable front roughly toward the east.

A tiled wooden wall encloses the property, and the front gate opens at the middle of the south side. Through the gate, the main house stands ahead with the barn facing it across the yard. A long work barn runs along the eastern edge, a small bathhouse sits east of the main house, and the ash hut stands just north of the bathhouse. Everything lies within a few dozen meters, so the division of labor on a prosperous farm (living, storage, work, bathing) is still easy to read on the ground.

The registered structures span 1935 to 1961. The main house, bathhouse and ash hut date from 1935, the barn from 1943, the work barn from 1944, and the front gate and wall from 1961. Walking the grounds, you can follow how the family completed the estate step by step across the war years and after.

The Seven Registered Properties

All seven parts of the Former Otani Family Residence were registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country, with consecutive registration numbers 16-0101 to 16-0107.

• Main House (1935; two-story timber house; building area 244 m²)
• Barn (1943; two-story timber building; building area 58 m²)
• Bathhouse (1935; single-story, storehouse-style walls; building area 9.8 m²)
• Ash Hut (1935; single-story, storehouse-style walls; building area 1.4 m²)
• Work Barn (1944; timber, partly two stories; building area 74 m²)
• Front Gate (1961; timber; frontage 3.1 m)
• Wall (1961; timber; total length 153 m)

Even the tiny ash hut has its own registration, which says a good deal about how complete this rural estate is.

Visiting and Getting There

The Former Otani Family Residence operates as the Oyabe City Otani Museum. It opens from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with last entry at 4:00 p.m. It is closed on Mondays (or the following weekday when Monday is a public holiday) and over the New Year period from 28 December to 4 January.

Admission has been charged since April 2023: 200 yen for individuals and 160 yen per person for groups of 20 or more. Junior high school students and younger enter free, as do holders of disability certificates and one companion. The main house displays folk material on rural and everyday life, and the barn holds the Otani Memorial Room on the brothers' careers.

The nearest main railway station is Isurugi Station on the Ainokaze Toyama Railway, about 5 km away by road. No bus service is advertised, so a taxi is the practical choice. The Oyabe City Tourism Association gives the drive as about 10 minutes, while the Toyama Museum Association says about 20 minutes, so allow some margin. By car, the estate is about 5 minutes from Oyabe-Higashi Interchange on the Noetsu Expressway, and there is free parking on site. The museum can be reached at 0766-68-2717.

The museum sometimes hosts a tea gathering in autumn; in 2026 a tea service is scheduled for 18 October.