Sightseeing Spots: Kakunodate Area

Bukeyashiki

Ishiguro House (city-designated historic site)

The Ishiguro family was once a house to serve the role of yonin (household secretary/administrator) of the Northern Satake Clan, said to have moved to its present location in 1853. The Yakui Gate has a forepole dated 1809, and inside the gate is the proper entrance with a Kegyo ornament on the Hafu (gable) and a side entrance. The main building is thatch-roofed, with a miniature hill, boulders, great fir trees, and arbors in the garden: simple and yet formal. It has black wooden fences with fenestras facing the roads, and it is the oldest in the now existent Buke (samurai) houses.

Open
9 AM to 5 PM
Open throughout the year

Charge
Adults/High School Students 300 yen, Elementary/Junior High School Students 150 yen
In groups of 20 people or more: Adults/High School Students 200 yen, Elementary/Junior High School Students 100 yen

Aoyagi House (prefecture-designated historic site)

The Aoyagi household was once a hereditary vassal of the Ashina Clan, but after Ashina's downfall, they became the vassal of the North Satake Clan. Black-painted sasarakobei fences with fenestras face the road. There is a Yakui Gate with a forepole made in 1860 by master builder Iwataro Shibata. Inside the gate, there is an idoyakata and rice storehouse in the northern side, a proper entrance nearby and a side entrance to its north. The entrances were used according to the visitors' formality or rank. With its well-balanced Yosemune-style thatch-roofed main building, the Yakui Gate, store house, and fence, it is a great example showing the Bukeyashiki style to the modern days.

Open
(April to November) 8:30 AM to 5 PM
(December to March) 9 AM to 4 PM
Open throughout the year

Charge
Adults 500 yen, Junior High/High School Students 300 yen, Elementary School Students 200 yen
In groups of 20 people of more, Adults 450 yen, Junior High/High School Students 250 yen, Elementary School Students 150 yen

Matsumoto House (prefecture-designated tangible cultural property)

The Matsumoto household was the vassal of the Imamiya household, senior vassal of the Satake Clan. They lived away from the Ashina Clan Vassals in Tamachi Sugasawa. After the downfall of Ashina, they became the vassal of North Satake and moved to Kobitomachi, and stayed there to the present day. Kobitomachi was the living place for foot soldiers and low-grade subordinates. The Matsumoto family was not regarded an important house either, but they were eager learners, and Hangoro Sudo, the author of Eboshioya and the professor of Kyokokodoshoin School, came from the family. The house is presumed to be built in the end of the Edo period, and the bedroom of the annex is also preserved.

Open (charge free) Mid-April to Mid-Novemeber

Iwahashi House (prefecture-designated historic site)

An important vassal of the Ashina Clan, with a rokudaka (salary) of 75 koku. They were employed by the North Satake Clan, ruler of Kakunodate after the downfall of Ashina, and served until the end of the Edo period. This house was rebuilt in late Edo period, and the thatched roof was also altered later to its present shape. It is a typical house of intermediate-class samurai of Kakunodate. The oak tree estimated to be 260 years old is said to be very rare in inlands, and along with the shidarezakura (weeping cherry), resembles the old times.

Open (charge free) Mid-April to Novemeber
9 AM to 4:30 PM

Kawarada House (city-designated historic site)

An old hereditary vassal of Ashina since the times they were still in Aizu. The Kawarada household became North Satake's vassal after the downfall of Ashina and stayed so until the end of the Edo period. They succesively served as a kiyamagata, and had an important role as a practical worker. They moved to the present position in the Meiji period, but the building style followed that of the Edo period. The zashiki (parlor) has the typical format of this area's Shoin style. The family heads, after the Meiji perido, engaged in various projects, and played an active role in various fields including politics, economics and education.

Open (charge free) Mid-April to Novemeber

Odano House (city-designated historic site)

The Odano household, from the days of Imamiya Danjo Kumi-ie, served North Satake. The building was burned down in the great fire in 1900, but the plan of the house follows that of the Edo period. The front yard has fir and maple trees, along with iris and small bamboo grass. It introduces the traditional planting style of Kyoto's garden techiniques, showing a style of a typical Bukeyashiki in the end of the Edo period.

Open (charge free) Mid-April to Novemeber
9 AM to 4:30 PM

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