A landlord's house from the last year of the Edo period
The main house of the Uchiyama estate was built in 1868, the final year of the Edo period, for a family that farmed and administered land at Miyao, on the flood plain north of central Toyama. Tile-roofed, gabled and built of wood with a partial upper floor, it keeps the plan of a working domain-era farmhouse: an earthen work space and hearth room on one side, formal tatami rooms on the other.
Visitors move through a sequence that begins at the great hall, the Ohiroma, where a wooden plaque reading "Yanagihara Sodo" hangs. The calligraphy is by Kusaba Senzan, a late-Edo Confucian scholar, and records the family's alternate name, taken from the Yanagihara district where the house stands.
Why the house matters
Two periods sit side by side under one roof. The core rooms of 1868 follow domain-era convention, while the front reception room and study were rebuilt in the Meiji period by the twelfth head of the house, Uchiyama Matsuyo, known by his literary name Gaisen. He chose his timber carefully: the study's posts were cut from the dense northern half of round Tateyama cedar.
The estate was placed on the national register of tangible cultural properties in 1998, listed together with its outbuildings as a rare surviving picture of how a prosperous Etchu farming house was laid out and lived in.
What to look for on a visit
Step out to the wet veranda on the south side. The eaves reach about four shaku (roughly 1.2 metres) beyond it, sheltering an unusually broad packed-earth strip below, a form shaped by the heavy rain and snow of the Hokuriku coast. From here the moon-viewing platform, its floor patterned after a banana leaf, looks onto the garden.
Smaller details reward a slow pass. Openwork transoms carved in paulownia are the work of Inagaki Saijiro, a craftsman kept by the household; beneath a stone basin in the front room sits a suikinkutsu, a buried jar that turns dripping water into a faint bell-like sound, said to date from about 1897.
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Questions and Answers
- When was the main house built?
- The main structure dates to 1868, the last year of the Edo period, built by the eleventh head of the family, Uchiyama Toshihiko. The front reception room and study were remodeled later, in the Meiji period.
- What is the "Yanagihara Sodo" plaque in the great hall?
- It is a wooden plaque brushed by the Confucian scholar Kusaba Senzan. "Yanagihara Sodo" was an alternate name for the Uchiyama house, drawn from the small district of Yanagihara where the residence sits.
- What is the suikinkutsu?
- A water-chime device: a jar buried beneath a hand-washing basin so that draining water produces a soft resonant tone underground. The one by the front room's basin is thought to date from around 1897, with a second near the study.
- Can I go inside the main house?
- Yes. The house is open as a branch of the Toyama Prefectural Culture Hall, with a set route through the rooms. Admission is 250 yen, open 9:30 to 17:00, closed Tuesdays and over the New Year.
- How do I get there?
- The estate is about 4 km from Toyama Station. By bus, alight at Sumiyoshi Uchiyama-tei-guchi and walk about 10 minutes.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Uchiyama Family Residence, Main House |
|---|---|
| Location | 903 Miyao, Toyama City, Toyama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (national) |
| Date registered | 23 July 1998 |
| Count | 1 structure |
| Date of construction | 1868 (Keio 4); partly extended in the Meiji era |
| Owner | Toyama Prefecture |
| Access | Open to the public as Uchiyama-tei, a branch of the Toyama Prefectural Culture Hall. Admission 250 yen. Open 9:30-17:00; closed Tuesdays and over the New Year period. |
References
- Toyama Cultural Foundation — Gono no Yakata Uchiyama-tei (official)
- https://www.bunka-toyama.jp/uchiyama/index.php
- Toyama Cultural Foundation — Uchiyama-tei Highlights
- https://www.bunka-toyama.jp/uchiyama/lookup/index.html
- Wikipedia — Gono no Yakata Uchiyama-tei
- https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%B1%AA%E8%BE%B2%E3%81%AE%E9%A4%A8_%E5%86%85%E5%B1%B1%E9%82%B8
- Toyama Prefecture — Uchiyama-tei
- https://www.pref.toyama.jp/1603/kurashi/sportsleisure/leisure/kj00011575/kj00011575-027-01.html
Last verified: 2026.07.04