The home of the Takeda family 👹🍣🎎 Wonderful Japan

Weekends and days off are there to be put to good use. For this reason, even a little rain shouldn't be a reason not to come out of the house. And on that spring day, when we had actually planned to go hiking again, we held ourselves to exactly this principle.

But the weather hadn't cooperated and it had unfortunately rained too much for us to be out in the forest. But to make the most of the day, we treated ourselves to a short cultural program. First we went to a historical exhibition, where there was even a little work-shop where we could all get a bit productive. And right next to the (shall we say) museum, my eyes immediately spotted this inviting building, which I immediately wanted to take a closer look at.

It's always interesting to look around old, especially very old and historic buildings and get an idea of how people used to live. And here we had the chance to do so once again.

Unfortunately, I couldn't read this information board without help or aids. But fortunately, in times of smartphones and translation apps, its message no longer has to remain hidden from us. I had it translated for us by Deepl.

Here's the whole thing in Japanese first, in case anyone wants to read along in the original:

新潟市指定文化財（有形民俗文化財）旧武田家住宅
昭和四十五年四月一日旧黒埼村指定
平成十三年一月一日新潟市指定に承継

この建物は、木場の武田家が住宅として使用していたものです。

旧黒埼村が同家から寄贈を受け、昭和四十六年に緒立に移築したものを、平成二十三年、現在の地へ移築しました。武田家は、曽根村（西蒲区）の肝煎として新田開発に尽力した高橋源助の子孫であると伝わっています。この建物が最初に建てられたのは、十八世紀前半と推定され、市内で最も古い民家と考えられます。土間には独立柱が立ち、差鴨居などにチョウナ仕上げの痕跡が残るなど、古い建築の手法が見られます。その後、時代とともに改造を受け、屋根の形状も変更され、現在の形になりました。

明治期には「裏中門」が付け足されました。「ダイドコロ」「水間」の奥には床高を上げて中二階建てとした「間」二室あります。この地域（西蒲原の低湿地）では信濃川・中ノ口川の破提により、たびたび水害に見舞われました。「裏中門」には、洪水に備えた防災の知恵がよく表れています。

And then again in English, which is understandable but sometimes sounds a bit bumpy. But let's not complain:

Niigata City Designated Cultural Property (Tangible Folk Cultural Property) Former Takeda Family Residence
Designated as former Kurosaki Village on April 1, 1970
Succeeded to Niigata City designation on January 1, 2001

This building was used as a residence by the Takeda family of Kiba.

The former Kurosaki Village received a donation from the family and moved it to the present location in 1968, and in 1948, it was moved to the present location. The Takeda family is said to be descended from Gensuke Takahashi, who devoted himself to the development of new rice paddies as a key figure in Sone Village (Nishikaga Ward). It is estimated that this building was first built in the first half of the 18th century, and is thought to be the oldest private house in the city. The earthen floor has independent pillars, and traces of chona finishing can still be seen on the door and other parts of the roof, indicating the old architectural style. Later, it was remodeled over time, and the shape of the roof was changed to its present form.

In the Meiji period (1868-1912), the “Ura-nakamon” was added. Behind the “daidokoro” and “mizuma” are two “ma” rooms with raised floors and mezzanine floors. This area (Nishikanbara's low marshland) was frequently flooded by the Shinano and Nakanokuchi Rivers. The “Ura-nakamon” (back central gate) is a good example of the wisdom of disaster prevention in preparation for flooding.

All right, so this is the former residence of the Takeda family. This house was built around 200 years ago and is now considered to be the oldest private house in the city. For a 200-year-old Japanese wooden house, it has been surprisingly well preserved and of course I took the opportunity to have a quick look inside.

The house is surprisingly large and feels very spacious, especially as there are no bigger objects lying around inside. The wooden floor is super smooth and shiny, and I could even imagine living here. Although, of course, some things would have to be changed, because I can well imagine that it can get really cold in here in winter. Insulation was a foreign concept in the past and still is today. In Japan's humid and muggy climate, proper ventilation is far more important to prevent everything from getting moldy.

But still, this house would be great for me. In winter, I would sit here around this extra fireplace and boil water for my tea. And I would roast some sweet potatoes, which in the cold season taste even more delicious than usual.

The translation shows that some of the rooms were built a little higher so that people could take refuge in the event of a flood and get their children and belongings and especially their most important things out of the water. The area here used to be quite swampy and if you lived here, you had to deal with the whims of nature. And since water is not to be trifled with, people became inventive.

In modern times, we have somewhat tamed the rivers, but you can never really be on the safe side in Japan. You always have one eye on the water, who knows when the next flood or the next big wave will hit.

But fortunately, this house has survived the changing times quite well so far and has been a historical witness for us. The short tour through the house and then around it was a perfect end to the history lesson we had enjoyed that day. I had a lot of fun and I'm sure I'll come back here again.

And then we'll just do it all over again and we'll definitely learn something new. I'm already looking forward to it...