A Meiji-Era Restaurant Inn on the Oyabe River
Shofuro Higashi-to (松風樓東棟, also written Shōfūrō, the East Building of Shofuro) is a two-storey wooden building in Fukumitsu, Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture, built in 1900 and listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in October 2014. It stands on the west bank of the Oyabe River, at the end of a street once called Kannon-machi.
The street still reads as what it was. Stone lanterns line the wide road, and the narrower lanes behind it hold black board fences under small tiled copings, and houses fronted with lattice doors. Until the early 1950s this was Fukumitsu's licensed quarter, one of the largest in western Toyama, and Shofuro opened in 1900 as part of its first generation of houses.
The East Building carries the main weight of that history. Its floor area is 449 square metres, the largest of the four registered structures on the site, and the Agency for Cultural Affairs classifies it as modern sukiya architecture: the timber-and-plaster idiom of the tea house, applied to rooms meant for entertaining. A hipped-roof main block faces the street. Behind it, across a courtyard, a second two-storey hipped-roof wing was added as a detached annexe. The kitchen occupies the east end of the ground floor, and the room directly above it was made into a large hall. Everything else on the upper floor is guest rooms, ranging from six to ten tatami mats.
The Saito family bought the house in 1921. Saito Toichiro, the first of the family to run it, was a broad-shouldered man who held the rank of east yokozuna in local sumo. Under him and his son Takekichi the property grew: two neighbouring houses to the west were purchased and physically relocated, and a garden was laid out in the space this opened up.
Fourteen Rooms, No Two Alike
The listing citation for the East Building turns on a single observation: every room has its own scheme of finish work. That sounds like a small thing until you count the rooms. Fourteen guest rooms, roughly six of them used for overnight stays and eight for dining, plus two banquet rooms, and each one detailed differently.
Two rooms take the idea furthest. Both were fitted out by carpenters brought in from Kanazawa, about forty kilometres west across the prefectural border.
The Sakura Room is entered under a small eave, across a threshold floor set with cross-sections of large logs used as stepping stones. The main room beyond is only six mats. Its ceiling is framed in the manner of a coffered ceiling, but the rails are soot-blackened bamboo, and the boards between them were chosen for their knots, which are left large and conspicuous rather than concealed. One account gives the timber as nezuko, a cypress relative from the mountains. The alcove post is a cherry log with the bark still on it. The lintel above the alcove is a piece of natural wood eaten through by insects, and a transom elsewhere in the room is pierced through a natural hollow in the grain. A guest is said to have burst into tears at the sight of it.
The Uzura Room works in a quieter register. Its entry has a ceiling of cedar bark held down by round bamboo rails; the antechamber ceiling is woven in the plaited ajiro pattern; the main room runs a band of soot bamboo around all four sides with woven work in the centre. The alcove is a board floor with a hanging post rather than one that reaches the ground, and a rough-plastered window in the style of a shoin study lights it from the side.
Elsewhere: the Yubae Room has an alcove sill left with the rough grain of the wood showing, and staggered shelves finished with the small upturned lip called fudegaeshi. The Taka Room has a transom carved in the Inami style, the woodcarving tradition of a neighbouring district in the same city. The Kumoi Room sets a slender soot-bamboo post at a floor-level alcove.
Closure, and What Comes Next
Shofuro suspended business in May 2022 and closed permanently that year, ending 122 years of operation. The fourth-generation proprietor gave health as the reason, and there was no successor. The buildings were kept.
Visitors should understand the practical position clearly: the East Building is not currently open for general viewing, and the restaurant inn no longer operates. What exists is a plan. In October 2025 a local company, Koshin LLC, launched a fundraising campaign through Nanto City's hometown-tax scheme to repair the complex and reopen part of it as a local history museum. The campaign closed on 3 January 2026 having raised 1,439,000 yen from 54 donors against a 2,700,000 yen target, and the city stated that the funds would go to the project regardless of the shortfall. The published plan covers three things: repairing the covered corridor so that the two storehouses can be seen from inside, restoring the first-floor large hall and four Japanese-style rooms as exhibition space for antiques, and reopening the upstairs room that looks out over the cherry trees along the Oyabe River.
Those cherry trees are worth a detour in any case. Saito Toichiro and his son Takekichi began planting them on both banks of the river near the house roughly a century ago, and the avenue is now one of Fukumitsu's better-known spring sights.
Getting there is straightforward. Fukumitsu Station on the JR Johana Line is about 600 metres east, an eight-minute walk. From the station forecourt the route runs west toward the river. Anyone hoping to see the interior should contact Nanto City's cultural affairs division or the operating company in advance, since access depends on how far the repair work has progressed. The exteriors can be seen from the public road at any time, and photography from the street presents no problem.
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Q&A
- Can I visit Shofuro Higashi-to, and is the restaurant inn still open?
- The restaurant inn closed permanently in 2022, and the East Building is not open for general viewing at present. A repair and reopening project is under way. Contact Nanto City's cultural affairs division before travelling if you want to see the interior. The exterior is visible from the street.
- What makes Shofuro Higashi-to a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It was registered on 7 October 2014 under the criterion of contributing to the historic character of the national landscape. The citation highlights the individually detailed finish work of each guest room, which the Agency for Cultural Affairs describes as modern sukiya architecture.
- How old is Shofuro Higashi-to and has it been altered?
- The building dates from 1900. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records remodelling work during the early Showa period, between 1926 and 1945. The detached annexe to the north was added across the courtyard as part of the building's growth under the Saito family.
- How do I reach Shofuro Higashi-to from the nearest station?
- Fukumitsu Station on the JR Johana Line lies about 600 metres away, roughly eight minutes on foot heading west toward the Oyabe River. Nanto City buses connect Fukumitsu with Inami and Johana, though services are infrequent enough to check in advance.
- What else is worth seeing near Shofuro Higashi-to?
- The printmaker Munakata Shiko lived in Fukumitsu for six years and eight months from April 1945, and his former house and studio survive as the Aizen-en memorial museum at Fukumitsu 1026-4. The cherry avenue along the Oyabe River, planted by Shofuro's early proprietors, runs close to the building.
Basic Information
| Name | Shofuro Higashi-to (松風樓東棟) |
|---|---|
| Location | 7471-8 Fukumitsu Aza Kawara, Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), registration no. 16-0096 |
| Year Designated | 7 October 2014 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Two-storey timber frame, tiled roof, floor area 449 m² |
| Owner | Privately owned |
| Public Access | Restaurant inn closed in 2022; interior not currently open. Repair and reopening project in progress. Exterior visible from the street. |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs — Shofuro Higashi-to
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00010132
- Cultural Heritage Online — Shofuro Higashi-to
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/243585
- Nanto City Culture and Arts Archives — Shofuro
- https://culture-archives.city.nanto.toyama.jp/culture/bunkazai/bunkazai0247/
- Toyama Cultural Heritage Database — Shofuro Higashi-to
- https://toyama-bunkaisan.jp/search/2546/
- Ryoko Shimbun — Registered Tangible Cultural Property inns, no. 95: Shofuro
- https://www.ryoko-net.co.jp/?p=50922
- Furusato Choice — Shofuro restoration project, Nanto City
- https://www.furusato-tax.jp/gcf/4700
Last verified: 2026.08.24