Samurai Residences

Samurai Residences (武家屋敷)

Introduction

This is a new project to highlight the samurai homes (bukeyashiki 武家屋敷) you sometimes find near castles. I will also include ashigaru dwellings, even though ashigaru are technically not samurai. I've only developed an interest in these in the last couple of years so I have missed many years of castle travels where I could have gathered even more information. Unfortunately, I cannot find even one good book in Japanese that discusses samurai homes in detail so I'm largely putting this together through what I've come to understand while visiting different sites over the years. I'm starting with areas that I know well and residences where the house still exists. Many places noted as "samurai homes" on maps only have a single gate or a storehouse remaining, but the main house is gone. I've documented many of these as well, but for the sake of bringing appropriate attention to these overlooked historical artifacts, I will first focus on residences where the house still exists.

Background

Dwellings in the castle towns were highly regulated by the local lord. All samurai kept their permanent home near the castle. These samurai quarters are called Bukeyashiki or Samurai-yashiki. In the samurai quarters, the proximity to the castle and the size of the home were respective to the samurai's rank and standing with his lord. Samurai homes were typically modest dwellings but with the distinction that only samurai were allowed to have walls and gates. Samurai residences were technically the property of the local lord so he could change the residence (and rank) of a samurai at will.

During the Meiji Restoration, most castles around Japan were destroyed by Imperial edict, but (as far as I know) these homes were mostly untouched. Since they were simply houses, they were often sold to merchants and government officials, among others. There was no particular historical significance attached to them, however, so most were destroyed over the years to make way for more modern homes. It is not uncommon today to find sites designated as former samurai residences that are still being lived in and are naturally off limits to the public. As their owners age or people decide to move, more of these houses are being donated to or bought by the local government to be preserved for their historical value.

Some of the best places to see multiple good examples of samurai homes include:

1. Matsushiro Castle (Nagano) - my all time favorite castle town. 2. Kanazawa Castle (Ishikawa) - not many you can enter however 3. Hagi Castle (Yamaguchi) - another one of my favorites. I wish I had spent more time exploring the homes and castle town here 4. Murakami Castle (Niigata) - several homes reaction to one park 5. Bitchu Matsuyama Castle - three well preserved homes near the foot of the mountain. Rare in that the castle was a mountaintop castle.

Just because you have a well preserved castle town, however, it does not mean that you will also find a lot of samurai homes. There are some great castle towns like Iwamura Castle and Izushi Castle where you would will find nice examples of merchants' homes and other castle town structures but unfortunately few, if any, samurai homes.

Learn more about Samurai Homes via the additional articles below:

Samurai Home Structure Samurai home list

Structure 構造

The Yokota Residence at Matsushiro Castle is one of the best examples of a samurai residence that I've seen. The home is of a middle class samurai in a rural area. The property and structure is almost completely original and retains all the main features of a residence. It is also recognized as an Important Cultural Property. The house itself is from the latter Edo Period so it may be a bit bigger and nicer than other residences from earlier in the Edo Period, but as far as I know it is still a very representative residence. You can also see the Maejima Residence also at Matsushiro Castle for another very representative middle class samurai residence. It was built in 1759 and is the oldest in Matsushiro.

In the map below the main features you'll see are the main gate, home, stable, 2 storehouses, a formal garden and a vegetable garden.

Gates 表門

Samurai were the only people allowed to have a walled home and gate. Nagayamon type gates tend to be the most common for samurai homes. The large nagayamon sometimes has a small room on either side of the gate that may serve as a stable, servants' quarters, or simply as a storehouse. You may often see Yakuimon gates which are much more ornate as well.

disclaimer: The information here is based entirely on my own impressions from visiting hundreds of castles and dozens of samurai homes. If you have found some good information or have a different idea on this matter please share through the comments box below or send me an email via the Contact form.