Demand of Support for Rescue of the Samurai Residence “Okazaki House”

All the efforts of a grass-roots cultural movement organization “Civic Cultural Heritage Network Tottori ( CCHNT)” are under threat of being wasted.

The “Civic Cultural Heritage Network Tottori” proposes to classify the samurai residence named “Okazaki House” as a historical site of Tottori City.

Heinai Okazaki VII was a successful leader of the independence movement, which occurred after the amalgamation of Tottori prefecture into Shimane prefecture in 1876. Thanks to his efforts, the Tottori Prefecture was reborn in 1881.

“Okazaki House” was constructed for Heinai Okazaki V, who had rendered remarkable services for the reconstruction of the economy of the Tottori-Ikeda Clan, when the debt of the clan became very high in 1807.

The Samurai Residence “Okazaki House” has many unusual features.

All these features can be understood when it is considered that the house is a prototype of a palace constructed in the Main Residence of the Clan in Edo (=Tokyo) . The palace was for Princess Yasuhime, the youngest daughter of the Shogun, Ienari Tokugawa, who married the feudal lord of the Tottori-Ikeda Clan, Narimichi Ikeda in 1840. Heinai Okazaki V was appointed as the person in charge of this Palace Construction in 1834.

Difficulties in preservation of this Samurai Residence “Okazaki House”

This samurai residence survived because one of Japan‘s first female lawyers, Masako Nakata, settled here, making it her office and domicile for more than a half century until 2002 when she died.

This house is known to be the samurai residence where the first Mayor of Tottori City, Heinai Okazaki VII, was born. A grass-roots movement for preservation of the house emerged. Accordingly, Tottori City decided to survey the house and a civic group organized the movement now known as the CCHNT, Civic Cultural Heritage Network Tottori .

The CCHNT repeated its petitions to Tottori City but the Cultural Heritage Council of Tottori City declined to certify that the “Okazaki House” is valuable enough to be classified as a Historical Site of Tottori City:  Compared to other buried cultural heritage examples it is difficult to judge that the “Okazaki House” is more important than others.

Another official system applicable to the preservation of some cultural assets like the “Okazaki House” is to judge that they are Important Buildings for Landscape Formation. The judgment of Important Building for Landscape Formation is examined by the Landscape Formation Council of Tottori City. Unfortunately, as the “Okazaki House” was in being dismantled when it was purchased and almost all the mud walls had been taken off, the CCHNT was obliged to shore up the structure with steel chains. The appearance of the “Okazaki House” is so miserable that it seems difficult to judge it as an important building for landscape formation.

Ultimately, the solution remains in the hands of the CCHNT but the collected donations are almost all consumed for purchasing the “Okazaki House”.

The CCHNT asks for the support in several forms;

1)      Donation of money

2)      Volunteer Qualified Labors for repairing the house

3)      Donors of materials for repairing the house