Historical Background
The Akuzawa family is traditionally said to have descended from Abe no Munetō, a samurai of the late Heian period. Historical documents preserved by the family include a letter dated November 15, 1566, in which Hōjō Takahiro instructed the chief priest of Miyosawa Akagi Shrine regarding a permanent land donation involving Akuzawa Genzaburō and others.
This document indicates that the Akuzawa family was an established local family and likely belonged to the main branch of the Akuzawa clan in the surrounding area.
From the early Edo period, members of the family served as nanushi, village headmen responsible for local administration. The family therefore played an important role in the community for generations.
No surviving document gives the exact date when the present house was built. However, its construction techniques, floor plan, and roof structure suggest that it dates from the late 17th century.
The residence preserves an architectural style that is considered one generation older than the so-called Akagi-style farmhouses commonly found on the southern foothills of Mount Akagi. It is therefore an important building for understanding the development of traditional rural architecture in the region.
Architectural Features and Floor Plan
The house is divided broadly into two areas. The eastern half is a doma, or earthen-floored work area, while the western half has raised wooden floors. The raised-floor section follows a traditional layout known as the three-room wide-space style.
The eastern room was known as the zashiki. The southern part of the western section was called the koza, while the northern rooms included spaces known as the heya, nando, oku, and osanbeya.
The house has remarkably few openings. There are no windows on the east, north, or west sides, while the south side was also designed with relatively few openings and without conventional戸袋-style shutters. As a result, the interior would have been relatively dark and separated from the outside environment.
The doma is considerably larger than the raised-floor living area. Near the entrance is a distinctive structural post known as a sodesuri-bashira, which is an important surviving feature of traditional construction.
The wooden posts throughout the house were finished with an adze rather than a modern plane. Their surfaces retain both smooth areas and the characteristic scale-like marks created by hand-adzing, providing visible evidence of the building’s age and construction techniques.
The Thatched Roof and Distinctive Ridge
The house has a hipped thatched roof. Its ridge features a traditional technique known as kuregushi, in which earth is placed along the top of the ridge and plants such as noshhiba, ichihatsu, and iwahiba are planted there.
In particular, the blue flowers of ichihatsu can bloom around May, adding a seasonal touch to the traditional roof.
The design of the ridge and the way the attic space was used preserve an older architectural tradition than the raised-roof structures developed for sericulture that are characteristic of later Akagi-style farmhouses.
This makes the roof itself an important feature for understanding the distinctive architectural culture of the southern Mount Akagi region.
Inside the Traditional Farmhouse
The Doma – Earthen-Floored Work Area
After entering the house, visitors first encounter the spacious doma. Rather than having a wooden floor, this area has a compacted-earth surface.
The doma served many practical purposes, including storing agricultural tools, carrying out work during rainy weather, and managing livestock. The traditional sodesuri-bashira can also be seen in this area.
The Hiroma and Kitchen
Adjacent to the doma is a wooden-floored room called the hiroma. A traditional irori hearth was located here, making the room the center of family life and everyday activities.
Behind the hiroma is the katte, or kitchen, where food was prepared using a traditional cooking hearth known as a kamado.
The entrance step leading from the doma into the hiroma is called the agari-hana. It also served as a simple reception area for visitors.
Oku and Koza – Private and Guest Rooms
The oku was used as a sleeping room for the family and was also an important space for childbirth. Apart from the entrance, the room was enclosed by earthen walls, providing a relatively private environment.
The koza, by contrast, was used as a guest room. It had tatami flooring and a ceiling, giving it a more formal character than the family’s everyday living spaces.
During roof replacement work carried out in fiscal year 2014, a household Shinto altar installed during a Showa-period renovation was discovered above the ceiling of the koza.
Structure and Dimensions
Architectural type: Single-story, hipped-roof, thatched farmhouse
Length: Approximately 15.3 meters
Width: Approximately 8.2 meters
South facade: Features a traditional covered earthen eave area
These dimensions and structural characteristics illustrate the scale and construction methods of a typical medium-sized farmhouse in the northern Kanto region during the early modern period.
The Surrounding Environment and Historical Value
The area surrounding the house retains traces of its former rural environment, including groves of trees once used as a protective estate forest and the remains of a well.
These features are important because they help visitors understand not only the architecture of the house itself but also how a farming household was organized and lived several centuries ago.
The Akuzawa Family Residence can also be compared with the Sekine Family Residence at the Omuromachi Folk House Garden in Maebashi. Comparing the two traditional homes provides an opportunity to observe changes in farmhouse architecture and everyday life over time.
As a representative example of a medium-sized northern Kanto farmhouse, the Akuzawa Family Residence is valuable for the study of traditional architecture, rural life, local history, and Japanese folk culture.
Visitor Information and Access
Admission: Free
By car: Approximately 20 minutes from Komagata Interchange on the Kita-Kanto Expressway.
By public transportation: From Ōgo Station on the Jōmō Electric Railway, take the reservation-based Furusato Bus and get off at Ishikura-kita Intersection. The residence is approximately a 5-minute walk from the bus stop.
A Valuable Glimpse into a 17th-Century Japanese Farmhouse
Akuzawa Family Residence preserves the architectural character of rural Japan from the late 17th century. Its thatched roof, distinctive ridge construction, enclosed floor plan, earthen-floored doma, irori hearth, and traditional room arrangement offer a fascinating glimpse into the lives of farming families during the Edo period.
The surrounding trees and remains of the old well further enhance the historical atmosphere, allowing visitors to imagine how the property once functioned as a working farmhouse.
For travelers interested in traditional Japanese architecture, rural history, cultural heritage, and everyday life during the Edo period, the Akuzawa Family Residence offers a rare opportunity to encounter an authentic historic building in the Maebashi area.