[Yamagata Prefecture] Walking through Tokamachi and Nanokamachi in Yamagata City, where the scent of the Edo period remains

During the Edo period, the Yamagata domain's biggest source of income was the Mogami safflower, which was cultivated within the domain. The red dye made from safflower is essential for coloring Nishijin textiles woven in Kyoto. Of all the safflower dyes produced in various regions at the time, Mogami safflower had the best color, and it was also difficult to obtain in Kyoto, so it was traded at the highest price.

Mogami safflower transported to Kyoto by Kitamaebune

The owners of the Kitamaebune ships that plied the Sea of ​​Japan noticed this. Mogami Benihana was transported down the Mogami River by boat from within the Yamagata domain and transferred to the Kitamaebune at Sakata (Sakata City) at the mouth of the river. It is said that the Kitamaebune, loaded with Mogami Safflower, etc., made a profit of 1,000 ryo (approximately 100 million yen in modern money) in one voyage.

An Omi merchant who established his base in the castle town of Yamagata Castle and grew greatly.

Many of the owners of Kitamaebune were merchants from Omi Province (Shiga Prefecture), the so-called "Omi merchants." In the Omi merchants' hometown, there was the main temple of the Tendai sect called Mt. Hiei Enryaku-ji Temple, and as Buddhist monks, they visited Yamadera (Tateishoku-dera), an ancient temple of the Tendai sect near Yamagata Castle, to worship.

Yoshiaki Mogami, the first lord of the Yamagata domain, took note of this and treated the Omi merchants who brought large sums of money to the domain with great hospitality, dividing up land in the castle town and allowing them to set up stores there.

The Yamagata domain gradually declined after Yoshimitsu Mogami, when it was 570,000 koku, and was reduced to 50,000 koku by the end of the Edo period, but the economy of the Yamagata domain has always been based on Omi merchants and some official merchants. It was spinning. It continues to this day.

In the Meiji era, the storm of modernization transformed the townscape.

At the end of the Edo period, all feudal domains, including the Yamagata and Shonai domains, were dissolved, and Yamagata Prefecture was established under the direct control of the Meiji government. Yamagata City was chosen as the prefectural capital, and Michitsune Mishima was appointed as the first prefectural governor. Mishima promoted the modernization of Yamagata City in order to make it suitable for the prefectural capital. Under the new city plan, except for Yamagata Castle's main keep and Ninomaru area, the Sannomaru area, which had a huge site outside of it, was urbanized and new Western-style buildings were built one after another.

In Yamagata City, there are quite a few buildings left from the Meiji period onwards, but very few buildings from the Edo period remain due to the effects of urbanization after the Meiji period and two major fires that occurred afterwards. Still, although the number has decreased, in the Tokamachi-Nanakamachi area of ​​Yamagata City, there are still warehouses and stores belonging to the Yamagata clan's official merchants and Omi merchants from that time. I'm doing it.

“Yamagata Marugotokan Beni no Kura” is a tourist facility that used to be a mansion of a wealthy merchant.

``Yamagata Marugotokan Beni no Kura'' is a warehouse owned by the Marutani Hasegawa family, who made their fortune as safflower merchants, and was rented by Yamagata City and reused as a tourist base for Yamagata City. The building was destroyed in the Great City Fire of 1894 (Meiji 27), and was rebuilt in 1901 (Meiji 34).

The Hasegawa family is an official merchant of the Yamagata domain and is not an Omi merchant, but the Hasegawa family, including the main family Marucho Hasegawa, branch families Marutani Hasegawa, Marukawa Hasegawa, and their relative Maruyama Hasegawa, are the presidents of Yamagata Bank, Kirayaka Bank, etc. He continues to be a driving force in Yamagata's economy.

Yamagata Marugotokan Beni no Kura has a soba restaurant serving local cuisine and hand-made soba, a restaurant based on local French cuisine, as well as a souvenir shop, farmers' market, and tourist information center.

INFORMATON

• Facility name: Yamagata Marugotokan Beni no Kura
• Location: 2-1-8 Tokamachi, Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture
• Phone number: 023-679-5101
• Closed: January 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
• Store name: Soba restaurant/local cuisine Benisansui/Cafe & Dining 990/Souvenir shop Agarashai/Shunsai Shunka delicious direct sales shop/Town Information Center
• *Please refer to the “Yamagata Marugotokan Beni no Kura” website for the business hours of each shop.
• URL: Yamagata Marugotokan Beni no Kura

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Former safflower merchant. ``Maruju Oya'', a valuable building from its founding that has been carefully preserved

Maruju Oya, headquartered in Tokamachi, is a manufacturer and distributor of fermented foods such as soy sauce, miso, seasonings, and pickles. The company was founded in 1844 by a former vassal of the Yamagata clan who turned into a safflower merchant. The old storehouse facing the main street is a valuable building from the time of the company's founding that survived the big fire. It is currently a residence and is not open to the public.

There is a store and a restaurant called ``Kurazenya'' in the adjacent factory.

INFORMATON

• Facility name: Marujuoya Co., Ltd.
• Address: 3-10-1 Tokamachi, Yamagata City
• Phone number: 023-632-1122

     *This is a private residence. Please do not enter.

• Facility name: Kurazenya
• Business hours: 10:00-17:00 (LO 16:30)
• Closed: Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays
• URL: Maruju Oya (Kurazenya)

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“Omiya Maruta Nakamura” developed from Omi merchants

Omiya Marutanakamura is a store that sells safflower, cotton, sugar, etc., and was founded in 1858 as Omiya Nakamura Kihei Shoten.The founder was an Omi merchant from Omihachiman (Shiga Prefecture). did. Although the head office has now been relocated, the old warehouse building and residence built in the Meiji era remain in Tokamachi. (The old company building and gates are not open to the public)

INFORMATON

• Facility name: Marutanakamura Co., Ltd.
• Address: 1-12-1 Distribution Center, Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture (head office address)
• Former Head Office Building Address: 2-4-10 Tokamachi, Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture (not open to the public)

     *This is a private residence. Please do not enter.

• Phone number: 023-633-2727
• URL: Omiya Maruta Nakamura

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Noshiume Honpo Satoya is a confectionery shop founded in the Edo period.

Noshiume Honpo Satoya is a long-established Japanese and Western confectionery store founded in 1821. The origin of Yamagata's famous confectionery, ``Noshi-ume,'' which is said to have been used as a medicine during the Edo period, is manufactured using traditional methods. Noshiume is sold as a famous confectionery in famous plum producing areas such as Mito (Ibaraki Prefecture), but it is said that it was introduced from Yamagata. The Tokamachi main store building was built in the early Showa period.

INFORMATON

• Facility name: Noshiume Honpo Satoya (main store)
• Location: 3-10-36 Tokamachi, Yamagata City, Yamagata Prefecture
• Phone number: 023-622-3108
• Business hours: 9:00-18:00
• Closed: January 1st
• URL: Noshiume Honpo Satoya

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``Nomuraya, a store specializing in duvets and pillows,'' was founded in the Edo period and is still in use as a warehouse-style store.

``Nomuraya'' is a textile wholesaler founded in the early Edo period, and began selling cotton products such as cotton cotton for bedding and futons in the late Edo period. The current owner is the 12th generation, and the store still uses the same storehouse as before.

INFORMATON

• Facility name: Nomuraya Bedding Co., Ltd.
• Address: 2-4-9 Tokamachi, Yamagata City
• Phone number: 023-622-2757
• Business hours: 10:00-19:00
  Closed: Open all year round
• URL: Nomuraya, a specialty store for duvets and pillows

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Goten Weir, a restored water supply from the Edo period

Gotenseki is an old irrigation canal that has been restored in the center of Nanukamachi. Five irrigation canals were built around Yamagata Castle for agricultural and domestic purposes. Goten Weir is one of these, and was called Goten Weir because it was the water that flowed into the moat of the castle. A "weir" originally refers to a partition installed at a water intake weir to adjust the amount of water taken in, but in the case of Yamagata, the name of the weir is now used as the name of the irrigation canal.

Next to the Gotenseki is Nanukamachi Goten, a commercial facility with eight stores, including the kimono and accessory store "Yukiya" (founded 110 years ago) and the soba restaurant "Shojiya" (a branch of a soba restaurant founded in the Edo period). There is a weir.

INFORMATON

• Facility name: Gotenseki/Nanakamachi Gotenseki
• Location: 2-7-6 Nanokamachi, Yamagata City
• Phone number: 023-623-0466
• Store name: Iwabuchi Chaho / KEN OKUYAMA CASA / Kimono and accessories ``Yukiya'' / Soba restaurant ``Shojiya'' / Cafe and restaurant ``Usuna no Basho'' / Yonezawa Ori ``Fu Shikian'' / ClassicCafe / Gungendo
• *Please refer to the "Yamagata Gotenseki" homepage for business hours, holidays, etc. of each shop.
• URL: Gotenseki

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