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Ishii Family Home (Sawai)

The Ishii family has lived for centuries in the Sawai district of Fujino (through the tunnel, on the north side of the Chûô railroad and the Chûô Expressway). During the period of warring provinces (ca. 1467-1568), the Ishii family were jizamurai or "landed samurai"—men who worked as farmers under everyday conditions, but were equipped and ready to take up arms in time of warfare in the name of their regional lords, in this case the Odawara Hôjô. With the coming of long-term peace in the Edo period (ca. 1615-1867), the Ishii served as hereditary headmen of the local Sawai village organization, growing field crops on the local mountain and raising silkworms inside the house. The present house, or most of it, was constructed in 1707, a date confirmed by a carpenter's inscription found during repairs in 1937 to modernize the roof from the pre-modern grass-thatching to the present sheet-metal. The house is said to be the oldest of its style in Kanagawa Prefecture, and has been designated a national Important Cultural Property. The house continues to be the home of the Ishii family, however, and is not open to the public. To return to your previous location, use your browser's "BACK" button, or click your heels together three times while saying, "there's no place like home" . . .

Green Gables: A Contemplative Companion to Fujino Township
by Norman Havens nhavens@gol.com
Updated: April 20, 2002

URL: http://www2.gol.com/users/nhavens/