Northern Culture Museum

photo by Sgico · CC BY-SA 3.0

photo by Tail furry · CC BY-SA 4.0

Rather than give up the villa to the 1946 land reform, the Itō family made it a museum.

The estate of the Itō family, major landowners, includes the main residence built between 1882 and 1889, a large reception hall and twenty-six buildings that are now Registered Tangible Cultural Properties: storehouses, tea houses, gates and even farmhouses brought here from other regions. To prevent the post-war land reform from breaking up the property, the Itō family themselves turned it into a museum foundation (the first private museum in Japan after the war) with the help of an American officer of the occupation, Lieutenant Ralph E. Wright.

Located in the Sawami district, now in Kōnan Ward, Niigata, the complex was the residence of one of the richest families of large landowners (豪農) in the prefecture. Faced with the 1946 land reform, which would have broken up landholdings, the family chose to set up a foundation and open the estate to the public as a museum (the first private museum in Japan after the war) with the assistance of Lieutenant Ralph E. Wright, an officer of the Civil Information and Education section of the Allied command. The complex has twenty-six structures registered as Tangible Cultural Properties (2000) and two national Important Cultural Properties.

ℹ️ Address: 〒950-0205 新潟市江南区沢海二丁目. Opening hours and ticket price are not confirmed: check them on the official site or by phone before your visit.

🚉 沢海ふれあい広場（横バス） · 1 min walk

Sources: ja.wikipedia.org

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