Former Fukumoto Family Residence

About the Former Fukumoto Family Residence

The Former Fukumoto Family Residence (旧福元家住宅, Kyū Fukumoto-ke Jūtaku) is a modern Japanese-style estate built around 1926 in Nishiyashiro, Suo-Oshima Town, Yamaguchi Prefecture, and four of its structures (the main house, the storehouse, the well and water tower, and the stone and brick walls) were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on February 17, 2022.

The man who built it, Fukumoto Chōemon, left the island for the United States and came home rich from the import-export trade. According to the Japan Hawaii Immigration Museum (日本ハワイ移民資料館, Nihon Hawai Imin Shiryōkan) that now occupies the house, he was born in Yashiro Village in 1881, crossed the Pacific alone at 16, and returned in 1924. Yamaguchi Prefecture's heritage notes place his American years in San Francisco. Local accounts put the cost of the house at about 30,000 yen in the money of the day.

You will also see the name spelled Fukumoto with a different second character (福本) on some town and museum pages. The Agency for Cultural Affairs register uses 福元, and so does this site.

From Private Home to Emigration Museum

After a renovation in 1998, the Former Fukumoto Family Residence opened on February 8, 1999 as a museum devoted to the islanders who emigrated to Hawaii. Suo-Oshima Town owns the property, and the Oshima International Exchange Association runs it under contract.

The choice of subject is no accident. During the era of government-sponsored contract emigration between 1885 and 1894, Suo-Oshima sent 3,913 people to the Hawaiian sugar plantations, which the museum reckons at roughly 13.5% of the 29,000 who left Japan in that period. Much of the collection was donated by families of returnees, and a searchable database of passenger records draws descendants from Hawaii who come looking for their roots.

So the exhibits about people who crossed the ocean sit inside the zashiki rooms of a man who did the same. That overlap is a good reason to make the trip.

A Note on the Construction Date

Sources disagree on when the Former Fukumoto Family Residence was built. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database gives 1926 for the main house and storehouse and "around 1926" for the well, water tower and walls, and this site follows that record.

The museum and the Suo-Oshima Tourism Association, however, say Fukumoto came home in 1924 and built the house in 1928, and one Yamaguchi Prefecture page pairs the era year Taishō 15 with 1923, which do not match. If a panel on site gives a different year, the registration itself rests on the national record.

Layout of the Estate

The main house stands at the center of the Former Fukumoto Family Residence, and the other three registered structures cluster around it.

The main house is a two-story north-south block with wings of formal rooms wrapped around an inner courtyard, and its entrance faces south. The storehouse is joined to its north side, with a row of windows looking down over the village. The well and water tower stand to the southeast. The walls run for 45 meters along the outer edge of the lot, stone on the side that faced the old approach road and brick at the back.

A sensible route is to enter through the south entrance and tour the interior first, then step out to the water tower in the southeast corner, and finish by walking the perimeter to see the walls and the storehouse's north face. Stone steps climb the north edge of the lot, and one of the storehouse doors opens onto them.

The Four Registered Structures

All four structures of the Former Fukumoto Family Residence were registered on the same day under consecutive numbers, 35-0108 to 35-0111. The main house was selected as a model of design; the other three were chosen for their contribution to the historic landscape.

• Main house (35-0108): two-story timber building with a tiled roof, building area 294 m². A Japanese home fitted with an American kitchen and running water
• Storehouse (35-0109): two-story dozo-style storehouse with a tiled roof, building area 23 m², attached to the north of the main house
• Well and water tower (35-0111): brick, 2.8 meters tall, the water source for the house
• Stone and brick walls (35-0110): stone and brick, 45 meters long, with gateposts

Opening Hours, Admission and Getting There

The interior of the Former Fukumoto Family Residence can be seen whenever the museum is open: 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with last entry at 4:00 p.m. It closes on Mondays (or the following day when Monday is a national holiday) and from December 29 to January 3. Admission is 400 yen for adults and 200 yen for elementary and junior high school students; groups of 20 or more pay 320 yen and 160 yen.

Photography is not allowed inside. Wheelchair users are welcome, and staff will tell you where to park if you call ahead.

The nearest station is JR Ōbatake. From bus stop 2 outside the station, take a Bōchō Bus bound for Tachibana Iin, get off at Ōshima Chōsha-mae, and walk about 15 minutes. Alternatively, the Okuhata Line shared taxi reaches the Yashiro-bashi stop in about 18 minutes, 3 minutes on foot from the house; it runs on reservation only, through the town's Regional Transport Division. An ordinary taxi from the station takes about 10 minutes and covers some 7 km.

By car, allow about 10 minutes from the southern end of the Oshima Bridge (turn right onto Prefectural Route 4 toward Yashiro Dam) or about 25 minutes from Kuga Interchange on the Sanyo Expressway via Route 437. There are two parking areas; the one beside the river is reserved for minibuses.