Ito Family Residence (Gobo)

The Ito Family Residence in Gobo

The Ito Family Residence (伊藤家住宅, Itō-ke Jūtaku) is a townhouse in the temple town of Gobo, Gobo City, Wakayama Prefecture, whose main house of the early Taisho era (1912–1918) and early Showa annex were both registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on March 26, 2015 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

According to the Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education, the Ito Family Residence was first built as the home of a forestry merchant. The main house stands on the street; the annex sits behind it to the east, deeper in the plot. The property is privately owned.

Wakayama has a second registered Ito Family Residence, in Itoga-cho, Arida City. That one is a citrus farmer's homestead and belongs to a different family.

The Ito Family Residence and the Temple Town

Gobo grew up as a jinaimachi, a town laid out around a Jodo Shinshu temple, in this case Hidaka Betsuin. Gobo City dates the present temple to 1595, when its halls were built, and notes that the temple's popular name, Hidaka Gobo, gave the city its name.

The Ito Family Residence stands in the middle of that temple town, on Higashimachi-dori northeast of Hidaka Betsuin, with its front to the west (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Two eight-mat rooms with a broad veranda continue behind the main house (Wakayama Prefectural Board of Education), and a covered passage leads east to the annex.

What a passer-by sees is the front of the main house: a projecting lattice at ground level, a board apron called an odare hanging from the eaves, and above it a grey-plastered wall pierced by white-framed windows.

The Two Registered Buildings of the Ito Family Residence

The two buildings of the Ito Family Residence were registered on the same day under consecutive numbers, 30-0205 and 30-0206. Both were registered for their contribution to the historic landscape (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

• Ito Family Residence Main House: early Taisho era, altered in the early Showa era; timber, two storeys with a single-storey part, tiled roof, building area 187 m²
• Ito Family Residence Annex: early Showa era; timber, single storey, tiled roof, building area 108 m²

The main house is valued as a townhouse that shapes the street, the annex as a well-built reception wing in choice timber. Each has its own page.

Visiting the Ito Family Residence

The Ito Family Residence is a private home. None of the sources consulted, the Agency for Cultural Affairs, Wakayama Prefecture or Gobo City, mentions any opening of the interior or grounds. Please view it from Higashimachi-dori only and stay off the plot. Because the annex lies at the back, the street view is mainly of the main house front.

The nearest stations are Nishi-Gobo and Shiyakusho-mae on the Kishu Railway, each about 500 m away in a straight line measured from map coordinates. The Kishu Railway starts at Gobo Station on the JR Kinokuni Line; walking directly from JR Gobo Station means about 2.1 km in a straight line. Trains are infrequent, so check the timetable beforehand.

Use Hidaka Betsuin as a landmark. Walk Higashimachi-dori to its northeast and look for a two-storey townhouse with a board apron under the eaves: that is the Ito Family Residence.