Top 10 History Museums in Niigata, Chubu

A wealthy farmer's house, a nostalgic reminder of the old Echigo Road. On the west bank of the great Agano River, which flows across the Kanbara Plain in Echigo, there is a little village called Soumi. A family, which started out as farmers in this area in the middle of the Edo Period, grew richer from father to son until eventually they built up an enormous fortune and became the greatest landowners in Echigo. The family's name was Ito. During the Meiji Period, the family gradually acquired more land. In their heyday they owned fields covering 13.7 million㎡ spread over one city, four districts and 64 towns and villages. In the Showa Period they were the most prosperous farmers in Niigata Prefecture with an annual rice harvest of over 30,000 bales. However, times were changing and the post-war land reform act meant that these lands were taken out of the Ito family's possession. The magnificent residence, a pure example of traditional Japanese architecture, was constructed over a period of eight years starting in 1882. The grounds occupy an area of 29,100㎡ while the house itself has 3,967㎡ of floor space and no fewer than 65 rooms. In 1946, six months after the end of the Second World War, the Northern Culture Museum Foundation was established in order to preserve the remaining estate which was donated in its entirety to the foundation. The house built by the Ito family, which has withstood wind and snow for so many years, allows people nowadays to glimpse the way of life of a rich farming family in days gone by. In April 2000, the house was registered as a national tangible cultural property.

Niitsu Tsunekichi devoted himself to promote petroleum refining in Niigata prefecture, the center of oil in Japan and had cherished his own entrepreneurship and contribution to the regional community throughout his life. The public hall changed into the Niigata Citizens Art and Culture Center, and the guest house was renovated and opened to the public as the Niitsu Memorial Museum to inherit the philosophy of the revered old Mr. Niitsu. There are the statue of the revered old Mr. Niitsu in front of the Niigata Citizens Art and Culture Center and the exhibition room on the ground floor.