Yatsushiro Yashiki
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History
Yatsushiro-yashiki was the fortified residence of the Yatshushiro Clan. The Yatsushiro family served as local feudal landowners for generations, and in the Edo period patriarchs of the family were nanushi (village headmen). Remaining architecture from the Edo period survives on the property elevated on a slope by stone-clad terraces; the omoya (main hall) is beautiful with its retained thatching, and a large and splendid gatehouse still stands. Both structures date to 1808 when much of the residence was rebuilt. Other structures date to the Meiji and Taishō periods.
Visit Notes
Yatsushiro-yashiki is a residence site in the Uede area of Akeno Township, Hokuto Municipality. It features architecture from the Edo period and is designated as an ‘nationally important cultural property’. The surviving architecture owes to this being a nanushi site used throughout the Edo period. Nanushi, ‘village headmen’ or ‘local magistrate’, were rurally located officials in charge of collecting taxes and administering local resources in the villages under their jurisdiction, as well as liaising with higher-ups and their liege (the daimyo). They had land which they cultivated (or had others cultivate under them), and bestrode the demarcations between bushi and farmer in the late Sengoku and Edo period's caste system.
Although some information I found online suggested the residence was open to the public, it was in fact closed when it should’ve been open. It opened in 2017 but is already closed? Likely it is one of the many smaller institutions closed during the response to the pandemic, and will never re-open. And yet, even whilst I was there another gentleman parked up and began taking pictures! I told him where to find the explanation board at the front of the property. Since the main gate is barred it’s not possible to get a good look at the surviving main hall, especially since from the rear of the site, which is uphill on a slope, a courtyard formed of storehouses blocks out views of it. I was able to see parts of the thatched roofing, and some of the front of the house by looking through the gap in the gate.
| Castle Profile | |
|---|---|
| English Name | Yatsushiro Yashiki |
| Japanese Name | 八代屋敷 |
| Alternate Names | 八代家住宅 |
| Founder | Yatshushiro Clan |
| Year Founded | Sengoku Period or Edo Period |
| Castle Type | Fortified Manor |
| Castle Condition | No main keep but other buildings |
| Designations | has Important Cultural Properties |
| Historical Period | Edo Period |
| Artifacts | Omoya, Nagayamon, Kura, Ishigaki |
| Features | gates, samurai homes, stone walls |
| Visitor Information | |
| Access | Nearest station is Anayama Station on the Chūō Main Line |
| Visitor Information | Closed |
| Time Required | 20 minutes |
| Website | https://www.yamareki.com/hokuto/yasiro.html |
| Location | Hokuto, Yamanashi Prefecture |
| Coordinates | 35° 45' 26.89" N, 138° 26' 17.56" E |
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| Admin | |
| Added to Jcastle | 2022 |
| Contributor | ART |
| Admin Year Visited | Viewer Contributed |
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