[Akita] Edo period samurai residence street “Kakunodate Samurai Residence”

A place where the townscape of the Edo period remains

Kakunodate Samurai Residences are a series of residences of middle and lower class samurai from the Edo period that remain in the Kakunodate district of Semboku City, Akita Prefecture. A number of these mansions are clustered together along the city road Bukeyashiki-dori Line, which runs from Morioka City in Iwate Prefecture to Semboku City in Akita Prefecture, and then to Akita City in Akita Prefecture, a little south of the national highway. It has also been designated as a Preservation District for Groups of Buildings.

Photo by juson.tw – 6 Senzan City Kakunodate Martial Artists (60)_Adjusted Size (2009) / Size-adapted.

There was originally a castle called Kakunodate Castle on top of the old castle mountain in this area, and the area where the Kakunodate samurai residence is located corresponds to the castle town of Kakunodate Castle. During this period, the outer town where merchants lived was called the inner town, and the samurai who served the Satake Kita family, the lords of Kakunodate Castle, lived there in groups. However, after the One Country One Castle Order was issued, the castle itself was destroyed and the castle lord set up a mansion at the foot of the mountain, continuing to maintain its function as a castle town.

The Satake family was originally a Seiwa-Genji clan that arose from Hitachi Province, which is now Ibaraki Prefecture. Like the Kai-Takeda clan, famous for the Sengoku feudal lord Takeda Shingen, also known as the ``Tiger of Kai,'' the Satake clan was based on the Shinra Saburo Yoshimitsu. This is a long-established family whose distant ancestor is During the Sengoku period, Yoshishige Satake, who was feared as ``Oni Satake'', and his eldest son Yoshinobu Satake, built up a land of 540,000 koku mainly in Hitachi Province, but because of his close friendship with Ishida Mitsunari, he owned the land of Sekigahara. He took an opportunistic attitude during the battle, and later switched to Akita.

The Satake family has branch families in the north, south, east, and west, but in order to ensure smooth management of Akita, the new territory, the lord rules Kubota Castle, the main castle, and the clan is established in major lands within the area. I was letting them live there. One of these was Kakunodate, which the Kita family ruled until the Meiji era when the feudal domain was abolished and the prefecture was established.

The Kakunodate Samurai Residence retains much of the streetscape from that time, with a series of mansions surrounded by black walls along the wide streets, and weeping cherry trees creating a nostalgic and beautiful landscape. It is also called ``Little Kyoto of Michinoku''. Some of the samurai residences, which have spectacular main buildings, gates, and storehouses, are open to the public and allow you to immerse yourself in the Edo period atmosphere.

INFORMATION