CLOSED.
You walk up the steep hill. And it is closed. 1250 on a Sunday. No mention on google maps, no indication at the parking lot. No explanation on the premises. Disgusted.
The Nishie Family Residence is a registered tangible cultural property. The Nishie family was founded in 1705, and the mansion was constructed over a period of 20 years by Iwami carpenters. It includes a pavilion, a magistrate's office, a simple white courtyard, and a turret gate, which is rare for a mansion. Legend has it that 50,000 roofing tiles were transported to the Nishie Residence, and Tsunekazu Nishioka, a master carpenter at Horyuji Temple who visited the residence, commented that the Nishie Residence well displays the characteristics of Sekishu Iwami carpenters. The family crest of the Nishie Residence's onigawara tiles is a swallowtail butterfly in a circle, which is also the family crest of Tokikuni. The intricately crafted onigawara tiles remain.
It takes about an hour to drive from Yakage Town to Fukiya Furusato Village. It's another 10 minutes or so to reach the Nishie Residence, where we had a special tour reservation. From the parking lot, it's a fairly steep uphill walk. The angle and distance are such that you might think it's impossible to climb this hill in the middle of summer. But at the top of the hill, a grand mansion steeped in history awaits, and the 18th generation head of the family, a couple, makes the climb worthwhile.
As we exited through the two-story gate, which doesn't look like the gate of a merchant's mansion, the head of the family greeted us precisely at our reservation time. First, the husband gave us a tour of the exterior and the museum inside the storehouse, explaining everything as he went. Afterwards, the wife gave us a tour of the interior of the mansion. I won't go into details, but this couple is incredibly fun. While explaining things, they interspersed small talk from time to time, and I think they were observing our reactions. After the tour, we enjoyed tea and sweets, and the conversation became lively, completely forgetting about the Nishie Residence. The second half was a fun time filled with laughter from beginning to end.
The following is from the website:
The Nishie family residence, which retains its opulent appearance to this day, is the home of the Nishie family, wealthy merchants who opened the Motoyama Mine in 1751 (Hōreki 1), which laid the foundation for high-quality red ochre, and produced green vitriol (roha), the raw material for red ochre. The existing building was constructed during the Hōei and Shōtoku periods (1704-1715).
During the Edo period, the Nishie family was granted the right to govern shogunate territories as a large village headman, and also served as the magistrate's office. The Nishie residence, which still strongly retains the atmosphere of the Edo period's prosperity, is an extremely valuable historical and cultural heritage. The residence has been passed down through generations of the Nishie family, and they still live and maintain it as a private residence. Because it is a living house where people reside, the residence is in good condition, and its opulent yet refined style has not lost its brilliance.
◎This is truly a "mansion."
It was quite a struggle to get to the mansion.
What a steep slope!
◎Visiting: Reservations required.
We didn't have a reservation this time, so we only saw it from the outside.
A monument bearing a haiku by Basho stands at the entrance to the Nishie Residence in Nariwa-cho, Takahashi City.
"The moon and plum blossoms, with a somewhat dazzling spring vibe" (Old Man)
The 1.5-meter-tall monument was erected at the end of the Edo period.
This was the residence of the Nishie family, wealthy merchants who made their fortune producing red ochre. During the Edo period, it also served as an office for the magistrate.
Revisited on October 7, 2020.
