Former Toda Family Residence

A Net-Maker's Compound on the Hiro Waterfront

The Former Toda Family Residence (旧戸田家住宅, Kyū Toda-ke Jūtaku) is the compound of an old net-making family in Hiro, Hirogawa Town, Wakayama Prefecture, and its six buildings, put up between about 1919 and 1945, were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in 2016.

The six are the main house, the net factory, the large parlor, the retirement building, and two storehouses, east and west. They stand in the old Hiro district at the western edge of Hirogawa, a few streets back from the sea. The main house faces west onto the street. Directly north of it the 28-meter net factory shows its gable end to the passer-by, and to the south the West Storehouse does the same, with the East Storehouse lined up beside it. Behind the main house sits the small, freestanding retirement building, and in the far northeast corner of the plot the large parlor abuts the net factory and looks south and east over the garden.

The Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education singles out how completely the Former Toda Family Residence survives: all six buildings, and the garden with them, are in good condition. From the street you see the front of the compound, net factory, main house and West Storehouse in a row; the other three buildings and the garden lie deeper inside.

The Toda Family and Their Nets

According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Toda family made fishing nets here from the early modern period onward. The prefectural board of education adds that they were not only net makers but also amimoto, owners of nets and boats who organized the local fishermen, and that their business reached as far as the Gotō Islands in present-day Nagasaki Prefecture.

The compound took its present form under Toda Yasutarō (1864 to 1941), who later served as mayor of Hiro Village. The main house and the net factory along the street date from the late Taishō period; the large parlor, the retirement building and the two storehouses followed in the early Shōwa period. Tradition holds that the retirement building was home mainly to Yasutarō's younger brother.

The family kept making nets here until some point between 1965 and 1974.

The Six Registered Buildings of the Former Toda Family Residence

All six buildings of the Former Toda Family Residence were entered on the register on November 29, 2016, under consecutive numbers 30-0217 to 30-0222, as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties. The net factory, the large parlor and the retirement building were recognized as models of their building type; the main house and the two storehouses for their contribution to the historic townscape.

• Main House: late Taishō period, 2-story timber, tiled roof, 125 m² building area
• Net Factory: late Taishō period, 2-story timber, tiled roof, 204 m² building area
• Large Parlor: early Shōwa period, 1-story timber, tiled roof, 95 m² building area
• Retirement Building: early Shōwa period, 1-story timber, tiled roof, 36 m² building area
• West Storehouse: early Shōwa period, 2-story earthen-walled storehouse, tiled roof, 35 m² building area
• East Storehouse: early Shōwa period, 2-story earthen-walled storehouse, tiled roof, 44 m² building area

Taken together, they make a complete working household: a workshop for the nets, a home for the family, a formal room for guests, quarters for a relative who had stepped back from the business, and storehouses for the family's goods.

From Empty House to Village Auberge

The Former Toda Family Residence stood empty from the middle of the Heisei era, and in 2014 the land and buildings were donated to Hirogawa Town. Renovation began in 2022, and on September 2, 2024, the compound reopened as a town-owned auberge, a restaurant with guest rooms, run by a designated operator.

The net factory now houses the restaurant Shioka (潮香), while the large parlor and the storehouses, among others, serve as guest rooms of Isari (いさり). The front of the main house, on the ground floor, has become a community space. Town records give the renovated floor area as about 790 square meters. The designers took the family trade as their theme, and netting turns up throughout the interiors.

Visiting the Former Toda Family Residence

As of July 2026, the prefectural board of education states that the exterior of the Former Toda Family Residence can be viewed from the road, but the interiors are open only to people using the facility. In practice that means booking a meal in the net factory restaurant or a night in one of the rooms. The official website asks for restaurant bookings at least two business days ahead and room bookings at least a week ahead.

The restaurant and rooms close on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and lunch is also not served on Fridays. Closing days can shift in busy seasons, so check the monthly calendar on the website before you travel. The telephone number is 0737-63-1920.

The nearest station is Yuasa on the JR Kisei Line (Kinokuni Line), about a 15-minute walk away according to the prefecture. Drivers can use the free car park, which needs no reservation. Walk the street from north to south and the front of the Former Toda Family Residence unfolds in order: the gable of the net factory, the face of the main house, then the gable of the West Storehouse.