TAKESHIRO NAGAYAMA RESIDENCE

In  the shadows of a postmodern shopping complex, the grand Sapporo Factory, is hidden away a small park which houses one of the true historic gems of the city. For many, me included, the feature goes completely unnoticed as countless people go about their daily business, seldom looking through the tree line at what lies beyond. So one can imagine my amazement as I walked through said trees in search of a good Autumn leaf photo spot, only to find one of the best preserved Historic buildings, the residence of Takeshiro Nagayama.

Takeshiro was born in 1837, being raised in the waning days of the Edo Period, a time where Japan was ruled by a military overlord known as the Shogunate and the Emperor was merely a figure head. Following Western contact with the U.S, a shift in power occurred leading to a political drive for the young 15-year-old Emperor Meiji to become the absolute ruler of Japan as in the ancient times. Takeshiro’s clan, the Satsuma, sided with the Emperor and over the year long bloody conflict known as the Boshin War (1867) he served as a Captain. He continued his military career after the war and in 1877 he fought in the Satsuma Rebellion where he was second in command of the 1st Tunda Battalion from Hokkaido (Japan’s Northern most Island).

Takeshiro rose steadily in his career and became a prominent figure in Hokkaido politics and the development of Sapporo as its capitol city. Around 1880 he had a home built on his land next to the present-day Sapporo Factory shopping center. The was a typical blend of Western and traditional design which had become so popular following the restoration of the emperor and the modernization of the country. It is a single floor structure with a high ceiling and low doorways, the floors lined with tatami matting and the windows large forming sliding doorways to the garden outside.

In 1904, Takeshiro passed away and in 1911 his property was sold to the Mitsubishi Goshi Kaisha (Limited Partnership) who decided to use the house as a dormitory for their staff working in Sapporo. In 1937, with the increase of personnel working in the city, a second structure was built connecting to the side of the existing building. It is a two-story house made of wood, painted green and off-white. The building was constructed specifically with the intention of being accommodation and so consist of large spacious rooms in a far more Western design, however, maintains some Japanese feature typical of the early Showa (Emperor Hirohito) Era.

During the subsequent Second World War, Sapporo went largely untouched by Allied bombings and the war ended prior to the Soviet Unions planned invasion of Hokkaido. As a result, this spectacular building still stands as one of the best examples of private dwellings from the Meiji and Showa periods.