Although many of the outbuildings on this property burned during WWII, the house and 3 of its stone warehouse survived and have been beautifully preserved. In the house visitors can see how merchants operated their businesses out of the "front room" (the one opening onto the street) and lived behind and above the store. These merchants were wealthy and entertained, so there is a massive "parlor" on the second floor. Alas, like many old Japanese houses, the kitchen and private family areas are not available for viewing. But one of the old warehouses was open and had a great display on how the fireproof walls were constructed and finished off with the local Oya stone. So interesting to see! And super conveniently located, less than 3 minutes from the train station.

I dare say that an ordinary tourist visiting Japan for the first time has no reason to stay in Utsunomiya. Similarly, we ended up in Utsunomiya by accident between the train from Nikko and the train to Hiraizumi. We had a little less than an hour and I asked the information Desk at the station to recommend the nearest attraction. So we were in the Shinohara house. Despite the modest furnishings by European standards, it is a house of wealthy people. Shinohara were traders of fertilizers and miso. Yes, that combination... Their income was equal to the salary of 8000 people. Such inequality... The house can be visited in 15 minutes. An interesting dive into the Japanese way of life of the last century. The ticket costs symbolic 100 yen. Cheap ice-cream... The house miraculously survived typhoons and regular Japanese earthquakes. Although the American bombing of 1945 was the most terrible test. They didn't leave much of Utsunomiya. There are photos about it in this Museum.