[Yokote City, Akita Prefecture] Masuda-cho, Yokote City, a nationally important traditional building preservation district lined with unique wooden merchant houses with built-in buildings

A characteristic of Masuda's townscape is that even though it is said to be a "kura town," you won't find anything that resembles a "kura" when you walk around the townscape. The street is lined with merchant houses from the Edo period to the early Showa period. It's a calm townscape that makes you feel like you've traveled back in time, but in general, there are almost always warehouses built behind or next to the stores facing the main street, but there are no warehouses in Masuda Town. I can see it. It is unimaginable that Masuda Town, which was once so prosperous, would not have a storehouse. So why are there so few storehouses?

A Masuda storehouse has a building built on the outside to protect it from snow.

The answer was the wisdom of living in an area with heavy snowfall.

Because the outside of the storehouse was completely covered with a building called a Saya, the storehouse inside could not be seen. The sheath is built to protect the storehouse from the weight of snow.

This unique structure is called ``ucha'' and is said to be commonly seen in the Tohoku region, especially in areas with heavy snowfall. [Uchikura] is built next to the long and narrow main house, and is used as a storage room (document storage) for property and important ledgers, as well as a tatami room where the inside is used as a living space such as a tatami room. It is thought that document storage has been a common usage since the Edo period, and that it became a zashiki storage after the Meiji period.

On the other hand, there are also ``outer storehouses'' that are built separately from the main building to be used for brewing sake, miso, etc., or for storage, and some of them are covered with sheaths, making it difficult to notice the existence of the storehouses from the outside. yeah.

Although Masuda Town is lined with merchant houses with built-in warehouses, it has attracted attention as a townscape without storehouses, and has been selected as a nationally important preservation district for groups of traditional buildings.

Masuda developed as a distribution center in the Yokote Basin.

Masuda-cho, Yokote City is located in the southeastern part of the Yokote Basin, at the confluence of the Naruse River and the Minase River, a tributary of the Omonogawa River that flows from Akita City into the Sea of ​​Japan. Although it currently belongs to Yokote City, it was an independent municipality until the Great Heisei Merger.

Since Masuda faces two large rivers that merge with the Omonogawa River, which was responsible for the distribution of the Yokote Basin, it has flourished as a distribution center for the southern part of the Yokote Basin since ancient times.

A market officially recognized by the Akita clan began in the Edo period.

Masuda first appeared in history when the Onodera clan, a powerful family in Dewa Province (Akita and Yamagata), built a castle during the Ashikaga period (Nanbokucho period), and during the Edo period. It is now a territory of the Akita clan (Kubota clan). Masuda Castle was abandoned during the Edo period due to the shogunate's one-han, one-castle policy. Although the castle town was lost when the castle was abandoned, it continued to function as a distribution base and achieved further development.

In 1643, a morning market officially recognized by the domain began. It is easy to imagine that the morning market was filled with not only agricultural products from the surrounding area, but also goods from the Kubota (Akita City) area that were transported by water on the Omonogawa River. At first, the morning market started in one place, but gradually it became a big market that was held in several places.

During the Meiji period, the volume of transactions reached such a level that a bank was established in the town.

Even in the Meiji period, regular markets were held in 1876 (Meiji 9) in Nakamachi (Masuda Nakamachi, Masuda Town) and Nanokamachi (Masuda Nanakamachi, Masuda Town), which had been the center of commerce since the feudal period. Now you can The amount of transactions in rice, leaf tobacco, raw silk (silk thread), etc. increased, and a bank (Masuda Bank, later Hokuto Bank) was established by local merchants.

In 1915 (Taisho 4), a large vein of ore was discovered at the Yoshino Mine, a copper and iron mine that had been in business since the mid-Edo period, and about 10,000 mining workers poured into Masuda Town. However, the city area expanded significantly. The unique townscape of Masuda Town, which has an outside storehouse and a built-in storehouse, was formed during this period.

The Daira Power Plant (Tohoku Energy Hirara Power Plant), which is still in operation in Higashinaruse Village adjacent to Masuda Town, was built in 1918 (Taisho 7) for the Yoshino Mine. It is a large power plant that is still in use today, and it is hard to believe that it was built for this purpose.

With the opening of the Ou Main Line, there was a shift from boat transportation to land transportation.

Until the Edo period, the basis of distribution in Masuda Town was by boat, and land transportation using roads such as the Ushu Highway was also popular. However, the opening of the Ou Main Line in 1905 (Meiji 38) marked a major turning point. The opening of the railway meant the end of shipping, and the center of the town rapidly changed from the dock to the railway station.

In the Showa era, agricultural production decreased due to cold damage and bad harvests, and the Great Depression that began around 1929 added to the decline. The Great Depression caused a huge drop in the price of raw silk, which was Masuda's main industry, and furthermore, the mining recession after World War I (1914-1918) and a significant production cut due to the problem of mineral poisoning from the Yoshino Mine led to the company becoming exhausted. The town ended its role as an economic center while retaining its traditional townscape.

Preservation activities bring back the old townscape

Although Masuda-cho still retains its old townscape, as the town declined, many houses were demolished or modernized. For this reason, a local preservation society was established, and after the area was selected as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings, a restoration project was started for the renovated buildings, and efforts to restore the townscape to the prosperous time are still continuing today. . In addition, efforts are being made to attract new businesses to stores that have become vacant due to closures, etc., and as of 2019, there are 59 stores, 45 open stores, and only one completely vacant store. ("List of Important Traditional Buildings Preservation Districts" and "Efforts to Preserve and Utilize Each District" as of August 2, 2021, Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The interiors of 19 of the historical buildings in Masuda Town (as of April 2023) are open to the public. Here we will introduce some of the most representative buildings.

Former Yukoma Sake Brewery (Shunsai Miso Chaya Kurao/National Registered Tangible Cultural Property)

This sake brewery was founded in the middle of the Edo period (1754), and closed down in 2003 (Heisei 15). For a while after it went out of business, it operated as a tourist and product center, but now it is a restaurant called ``Shunsai Miso Chaya Kurao'' and a souvenir shop run by Haba Kojiten, which was founded in 1918 (Taisho 7).

The store's building is unusual in that it has a signboard made of troweled wood that is integrated with the store entrance, and was built during the Taisho era. The brewery in the back (main storehouse) was built at the end of the Edo period and expanded in the early Meiji period, and was used as an external warehouse for brewing sake. The warehouse building is a double structure covered with a sheath.

INFORMATON

• Facility name: Shunsai Miso Chaya Kurao
• Address: 64 Masuda Nakamachi, Masuda-cho, Yokote City, Akita Prefecture
• Phone number: 0182-45-3710
• Business hours: 10:00-17:00 (lunch 11:30-15:00)
• Closed: Wednesdays and Thursdays
• URL: Shunsai Miso Chaya Kurao

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Former Ishihira Hardware Store (Tourist Product Center "Kura-no-Eki")

The Ishihira family ran a hardware store during the Meiji and Taisho periods.The building was built between the Meiji and Taisho periods, and is a valuable piece of furniture that still retains its narrow, rectangular merchant house structure. is. The storehouse was a document storehouse. It is also one of the few buildings where the second floor is open to the public.

Currently, Yokote City took over the building from the Ishiheira family, and it is now used as a tourist and product center, ``Kura-no-Eki'', as well as an information center and a product center.

INFORMATON

• Facility name: Tourism product center “Kura no Eki”
• Location: 103 Masuda Nakamachi, Masuda-cho, Yokote City, Akita Prefecture
• Phone number: 0182-45-5541 (Masuda Town Tourism Association)
• Business hours: 9:00-17:00
• Closed: December 29th to January 3rd

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Former Koizumi Gohei House (Sato Yosuke Shoten Lacquerware Museum/National Registered Tangible Cultural Property)

The Sato Yosuke Shoten Lacquerware Museum is the former home of the Koizumi Gohei family, which was acquired by the long-established Inaniwa udon shop Sato Yosuke Shoten and reused as a museum. Currently, it is managed and operated by the Yokote City Masuda Manga Art Museum as a base facility for the Manga Original Art Archive Center, which is a project of the Agency for Cultural Affairs and serves as the point of contact for consultation on the preservation of original manga art in the country.

The former Koizumi family was a large landowner in Masuda, dealing in lumber, miso, soy sauce, and other products. Gohei, the fifth generation head of the Koizumi family, served as the first president of Masuda Bank (Hokuto Bank), which was established in 1895 (Meiji 28).

The built-in building was built in 1921 (Taisho 10) and is very luxurious, as befits a large landowner.

INFORMATON

• Facility name: Sato Yosuke Shoten Lacquerware Museum
• Location: 5 Honmachi Masuda, Yokote City, Akita Prefecture
• Opening hours:
• April-October/10:00-17:00
• November to March/10;00 to 16:00
• Phone number: 0182-23-6915
• Closed: Mondays and Tuesdays
• Free tour

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Sato Mataroku family (nationally designated important cultural property)

The Sato Mataroku family is a prestigious family that has existed since the Edo period, and was one of the founders of Masuda Bank. When viewed from the front, the main building looks like a three-story store/residence, but the visible outside part is actually a sheath, and inside is a storehouse-style main building (built-in). At the end of the long main building, there is also a document storage (built-in) that continues to the main building, and the entire building is a storehouse, yet it is completely invisible from the outside, making it the ultimate built-in building. is. The building was built in the early Meiji period and has been designated as a national important cultural property.

INFORMATON

• Facility name: Sato Matarokuya
• Location: 63 Masuda Nakacho, Masuda-cho, Yokote City, Akita Prefecture
• Phone number: 0182-45-5541 (Masuda Town Tourism Association)

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In addition to the above-mentioned internal organs, which are open to the public in Masuda Town

Former Ishida Rikichi family (city-designated cultural property) / Takahashi tea shop (nationally registered tangible cultural property) / Sato Sanjuro family (nationally registered tangible cultural property) / Ishinao store (nationally registered tangible cultural property) / Tanifuji family (city-designated cultural property) )/Sasahara House/Yamayoshi Fertilizer Store (city-designated cultural property)/Yamanaka Kisuke Shoten (nationally registered tangible cultural property)/Sato Konbu Shop/Sato Tasaburo House (city-designated cultural property)/Masukawa Shoten (formerly Eisuke Shoten/ (National Registered Tangible Cultural Property) / Former Shutokudo Murata Pharmacy (City-designated Cultural Property) / Kobunkan Tokairin Shoten (National Registered Tangible Cultural Property) / Machi no Eki Fukuzo (Formerly Sato Yogobe Family) / Hinomaru Jozo Co., Ltd. (Nationally registered tangible cultural property)

There are 19 hotels.

Request from Yokote City regarding tours of traditional houses

Unlike tourist facilities in other areas, the houses that are open to the public are still occupied by their owners or are still open as shops. We are opening this site to the public because we want as many people as possible to see the cultural heritage that remains in the Masuda area, so we ask that you understand the wishes of the owners before visiting .

INFORMATON

Townscape of Masuda Town

• Phone number: 0182-45-5541 (Masuda Town Tourism Association)
• access:
• Railway: From Yokote Station or Jumonji Station on the JR Ou Main Line, take a route bus bound for Masuda and get off at Masuda Kura Station or Yotsuya Tsukaku Bus Stop, or about 10 minutes by taxi from Jumonji Station.
• By car: Via Akita Expressway Yokote IC, exit Yuzawa Yokote Road Jumonji IC and take National Routes 13 and 342 towards Masuda for about 10 minutes.

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