Meguro Residence — 1797 farmhouse and Important Cultural Property

Meguro Residence (目黒邸) sits in Uonuma City, Niigata Prefecture. Built in Kansei 9 (1797) by Meguro Gorosuke, the 11th head of the Meguro family, it functioned as both a wealthy farmer’s home and the official dwelling of a warigemoto shōya (a senior village headman). Today the estate is incorporated into the Niigata Prefectural Okutadami Recreation Urban Park, Suhara Park, and several buildings plus the surrounding land are designated Important Cultural Properties of Japan.

Arrival and first impressions

Approaching from the park, the first visible element is the main thatched house with its central gate. The entrance is an omote-nakamon configuration: the gate carries an irimoya roof capped by a chidorihafu gable with an ornamental bargeboard that marks the building’s official role. The composition — a mid-gate layout (nakamon-zukuri) common in heavy-snow districts — makes the house read immediately as a large, formal farmhouse rather than a simple rural dwelling.

Main house: structure and interior

The main house dates to 1797 and is a thatched, hipped-roof building with a plan of 16 ken by 6 ken. Structurally it consists of upper and lower roof zones; the attic framing uses thick round timbers assembled as forked rafters and a double-beam system. Rather than nails, wedge joints (kusabi-style connections) are used throughout. Thick upper-house pillars, beams, long lintels and thresholds carry the massive thatch roof and were designed to withstand the area’s heavy snow—more than three metres in depth—and to preserve the original form.

Entering via the front central gate leads to a sequence of traditional spaces. The earth-floored entrance (doma) gives onto a hearth area fitted with a large suspended cooking shelf, an anteroom, a stable, a space recorded as “kacha,” a downstream work area and servants’ rooms. From the doma visitors cross a high threshold up into the tatami tea room (chanoma). The sunken irori hearth faces a Buddhist alcove (butsuma). To the right of the doma are the steward’s accounting hall and his sleeping chamber. Beyond these is the spear room (yari-no-ma), equipped with a spear rack; a shikidai-style veranda at the front served as the point where domain officials were received and then led inward through the spear room, the middle room and finally to the inner guest room. Behind the inner reception rooms lie family sleeping chambers, described historically as inner sleeping rooms and new sleeping rooms.

Outbuildings and the Chotei

Behind the main house survive two storehouses: the shin-gura (new storehouse) built in Tenpō 11 (1840) and the naka-gura (middle storehouse) built in Meiji 4 (1871). The estate once contained additional agricultural buildings — such as husk, rice, miso, soy-sauce and sake storehouses — traces of which remain in the yard. Stone work across the site, including stone bridges and steps, also survives and records the estate’s former scale.

Set to the rear of the residence is the Chotei, erected in Meiji 34 (1901). Chotei is a two-storey sukiya-style building with a copper-sheeted hipped roof; it contains a tea room, a large alcove (o-toko) and a shoin study. Construction used select timbers sourced from various regions, reflecting the family’s resources and tastes at the turn of the 20th century.

Garden and stone features

The garden visible from the inner guest room and middle room is a pond-based strolling garden believed to date to the late Edo period. The mountain side of the plot contains the estate’s inner guardian stone shrine (Ishidōsha). Stepping stones, a waterfall and a triadic stone grouping (sanzon-style arrangement) articulate a relationship with the site’s natural slope; behind the Inari shrine there is also a dry rock garden (karesansui) stone arrangement.

The Meguro family operated a sake brewery on the premises historically; that brewing activity is recorded as having been taken over and continued by Tamagawa Shuzo.

The Meguro family: local authority and modernization

The Meguro family traces service to the Aizu Ashina domain; after the Ashina were defeated at the Battle of Surukami-hara, the family is said to have taken up farming in Hirose in Uonuma in Tenshō 18 (1590). The family’s first named head, Zen’emon, served as the kimoiri for fifteen villages in the Kamijo district in the early Edo period (Keichō era). In Kōfuku-era events and later disputes over borders, family members acted as local representatives in Edo, and the family grew into a leading village office: in Hōreki era contexts they carried out famine relief and other measures for local households.

In Hōreki 5 (1755) the eighth head, Goro-suke, was appointed to the warigemoto role; thereafter the family served as hereditary warigemoto (a senior shōya office), were permitted surname and sword and received stipends. As the family prospered, records place their holdings in the An’ei years at just over 140 koku, with sake production recorded at 200 koku and roughly 20 servants.

In the modern period the family also entered politics and local development. The 15th head, Tokumatsu, was elected to the early Niigata prefectural assembly in Meiji 13 (1880) and to the House of Representatives in Meiji 25 (1892). The 16th head, Kohei, won a seat in the House in Meiji 45 (1912) and participated in national politics in the Taishō years. The family introduced modern conveniences and cultural items to the estate — the Chotei, an automobile in Taishō 7 (1918) reported as the second private car in Niigata Prefecture, and a Taishō-period piano that remains in the house. By Taishō 9 (1920) the family’s management extended across two districts and six villages, with 165 chobu of farmland and some 325 tenant farmers. The Meguro household contributed to regional modernization through agriculture, finance, silk and sake industries, school construction, road improvements that became parts of present routes, the building of the Tadami Line and local hydroelectric works.

Cultural designation, park status and access

The Meguro Residence is listed as an Important Cultural Property of Japan. Designation details recorded by the national authority are as follows:

• The designation covers four buildings and the estate lands: the main house (with two attached wooden roof plaques), the naka-gura (middle storehouse), the shin-gura (new storehouse) and the new zashiki named Chotei (with one attached roof plaque).
• Feb 5, 1974: the main house, naka-gura and shin-gura were designated Important Cultural Properties; an account ledger for house timber purchases (one volume) and a family-layout map (one sheet) were registered as attached items, and two roof plaques were attached to the main house.
• May 31, 1978: an additional 4,513.8 square metres of estate land was added to the designation.
• Apr 20, 1993: the Chotei (new zashiki) and a further 6,203.38 square metres of surrounding land were added; with the earlier area this brought the total designated land to 10,717.18 square metres. The estate’s guardian stone shrine (Ishidōsha) and one roof plaque for the Chotei were also added as attached items.

The site is managed as part of Niigata Prefectural Okutadami Recreation Urban Park, Suhara Park; the park contains a Meguro Residence Museum that presents related material. Nearby facilities recorded in local listings include the Sumon Folk Cultural Property Museum, Suhara Ski Area, Tamagawa Shuzo, the picture-book house Yukiboushi, the natural science House of Stars, the Sato family residence (also an Important Cultural Property) and Matsuzaka Kannon-do.

Access specifics recorded for the site are: approximately a 3-minute walk from Echigo-Suhara Station on the JR Tadami Line; about a 2-minute walk from the “Suhara Eki Kado” bus stop on the Minami-Echigo Kanko Bus UA Koide–Nukigi/Anazawa line; and about 20 minutes by car from either the Uonuma IC or Horinouchi IC on the Kan-Etsu Expressway.

FAQ

When was the main house built?

The main house was built in Kansei 9 (1797).

Which buildings and land are included in the Important Cultural Property designation?

The designation covers the main house, the middle storehouse (naka-gura), the new storehouse (shin-gura), the new zashiki called Chotei and estate land totalling 10,717.18 square metres, with attached items such as roof plaques, an account ledger, a family-layout map and the guardian stone shrine Ishidōsha.

How close is the site to the nearest train station?

It is about a 3-minute walk from Echigo-Suhara Station on the JR Tadami Line.