[Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture] Fukushima Prefecture’s cultural asset “Fukushima Civic House Garden” that should be preserved for future generations

Fukushima Citizen's House Garden is a facility that gathers, preserves, and exhibits important ethnic heritage, such as old thatched-roof wooden buildings and playhouses that were destined to disappear, and that we want to pass on to the future.

In addition, you can enjoy seasonal events handed down in Fukushima Prefecture, as well as experiences such as sericulture, rice planting, rice harvesting, and straw crafting.

Thatched-roof private houses collected from various parts of Fukushima Prefecture

The Fukushima Civic House Garden is a collection of six thatched-roof farmhouses built from the Edo period to the early Meiji period.

The structure consists of five one-story buildings, including one "Magariya". The other house has two floors, each with an attic.

Precious thatched-roof farms: ``Old Watanabe Family,'' ``Old Nara Family,'' ``Old Kanno Family,'' and ``Old Abe Family.''

The ``Old Watanabe House,'' ``Old Nara House,'' ``Old Kanno House,'' and ``Old Abe House'' are straight, one-story houses (Naoie/Jikaya). The ``Old Abe House'' was a typical farmhouse, and the others seem to have been large farms with many rooms.

All buildings were built in the Edo period.

The "Former Nara Family," "Former Sugano Family," and "Former Abe Family" are designated as important cultural properties by Fukushima Prefecture, and the "former Watanabe Family" is designated as a tangible cultural property by Fukushima City.

The old Baba family lived with horses.

``Old Babaya'' is a music shop built in the Edo period.

Many Magaya were built north of the Kanto region, especially in heavy snowfall areas such as Fukushima, Niigata, and Yamagata prefectures. The Magaya, which connects the main house and stable (horse shed) in an L-shape, is a construction method created to allow humans to live together with horses, which were important livestock for farming and transportation.

By turning it into a song shop

① You can see and care for the horses right nearby.　

② Horses can also stay in a heated room.　

③The person caring for the animal does not have to go through the snow.　

④If the stable is located far away, you won't notice if it gets crushed due to wind, snow, etc.

There were benefits such as Although horses are no longer used for farming, there are still more than 100 Magaya in the Aizu region.

The former Ono family, a sericulture farm that raised silkworms on the upper floor

The ``Old Ono House'' is a two-story sericulture farm built in the early Meiji period. The architectural style is called a scaffolding mezzanine (ashibashiki chunikaidate), and what appears to be the second floor is officially the mezzanine floor.

Sericulture is the process of raising silkworms (silk moth larvae) to produce silk threads and producing cocoons (silk moth pupae), and Fukushima Prefecture was one of Japan's leading sericulture regions.

Silkworms are sensitive to fluctuations in temperature and humidity, so they needed to be raised on the second floor (mezzanine floor) or attic, where the heat of the hearth was constantly circulating.

The lighting windows in the attic that can be seen in the ``Old Ono House'' are said to be built in a way unique to Fukushima Prefecture.

The playhouse “Hirose-za” is a nationally important cultural property.

``Hiroseza'' is a playhouse built around 1887 (Meiji 20) in the former Yanagawa Town (Date City, Fukushima Prefecture). It was used for public entertainment and as a movie theater until 1986, when it was damaged by flooding.

Afterwards, demolition was considered, but Fukushima City bought it and relocated it to the Fukushima Civic House Garden.

``Hirose-za'' is a valuable playhouse that has almost all the functions such as a revolving stage, an abyss, a flower path, and a sajiki, and you can tour the stage and audience seats.

``Hirose-za'' is a playhouse with high cultural value and has been designated as an important cultural property of the country.

Annual events and traditional crafts that have been passed down from generation to generation

At the Fukushima Citizens' House, you can experience exhibits of annual events handed down in Fukushima Prefecture, the production of daily necessities, farming, sericulture, and more depending on the season.

For example, agricultural work is carried out in early May, rice planting, and fall.

Also, during summer vacation, you can spend valuable time experiencing ``old farm life'' that you would not be able to experience if you were living in the city.

Advance registration is required for some events, such as "rice planting" and "old farm life."

You can freely observe events such as "New Year's Day," "Little New Year," "Setsubun," "Peach Festival," "Tango Festival," and "Obon."

Valuable buildings and tools such as inns and storehouses are also on display.

In addition to this, the Fukushima Civic House Garden also includes a building that was once an inn (former Kakeke Ikeshukuten, designated as a tangible cultural property by Fukushima City), a restaurant, and an inn. ``Motokyakujiken'' (Tangible Cultural Property designated by Fukushima City), wooden storehouses (Itakura) used in private houses, Hashisengoya (Bridge) Rare structures, huts, and tools are on display, including a toll hut, old agricultural machinery, and a weaving machine.

summary

``Fukushima Civic House Garden'' is a very valuable experience that allows you to learn about Fukushima prefecture in the past and what things should be passed down to the future.

Please come visit with your family and use it as a place for parents to convey important things to their children.

Fukushima Civic House Garden <Information>

• Name: Fukushima Citizen Garden
• Address: Kaminakura Oishimae, Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, 960-2155 (inside Azuma Sports Park)
• Phone number: 024-593-5249
• Official URL: https://minka-en.com/

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