Kamakura Japan Heritage: Villa
By Foot
Tour residences and old shops that convey the villa culture today
1 Day
1Kamakura Station
10 min by bus
Board at Kamakura Station East Exit Platform 4, get off at “Jomyoji,”
6 min by foot
2Former Residence of Kachonomiya
This western-style house, located to the east of Mt. Kinubari, was built as a residence for Marquis Hironobu Kacho. The house changed hands several times before being acquired by Kamakura City in 1996. The classical half-timbered building, typical of wooden architecture in Europe, is characterized by the tasteful look created by filling the spaces between exposed posts and beams with brick, gravel or clay. There is a beautiful French garden with a pond and trees geometrically arranged. Visitors can stroll through the gardens. In 1971 Mr. Matsuzaki, the owner of the Former Residence of Kachonomiya at that time, moved the gate and tea-ceremony house, called Muian, from his residence in Kamios…
6 min by bus
Board at “Jomyoji,” get off at “Hachimangu,”
3 min by foot
3Yuasa Souvenir Shop
The Yuasa Souvenir Shop was founded in 1897 to manufacture and sell products decorated with sea shells. The building with its impressive arch windows was built in 1936. It is typical of "billboard architecture" in which western-style decorations are applied to the front of a wooden building. Shinzaburo Yuasa, the founder, remembering the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, wanted to build a building robust enough to withstand earthquakes so he took carpenters to Yokohama to copy a trading company building there.
10 min by foot
4Koga Residence
The Koga Residence, the Kamakura Museum of Literature and the Former Residence of Kachonomiya are the three most important western-style buildings in Kamakura. It took approximately 15 years to build the Koga Residence which was used as a villa by Seijiro Sho, managing director of the Mitsubishi Joint-Stock Company. A disaster recovery conference was held here immediately after the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake. In 1937 the house was acquired by Sadachika Koga, head of Nippon Tochi-Tatemono Co., Ltd. Later, Osachi Hamaguchi and Fumimaro Konoe, both former Prime Ministers, used the house as a villa. Currently the house functions as a restaurant.
15 min by foot
5Sunshodo
This long-established shop carries on the Kamakurabori carving tradition.This structure was built in 1936 by local carpenter Kiichi Nishii and his son Shoji as the store and residence of Sogaku Sato, a Kamakurabori carver. While the glass doors and show windows of the first-floor storefront incorporate modern Western architectural techniques, the structure as a whole combines temple and castle styles. Since its construction, Sunshodo has played an important role as a landmark in the Sasamemachi and Hase neighborhoods.
