History of Yoshiki no Sato

The posted photo is the Sato house as it was in year 19 of the Meiji Era (1886).

The Sato family from Mino City was the original owner of "Yoshiki no Sato". It is said that the original owner was a vassal of Nagachika Kanamori who came to Gifu Prefecture from Fukui Prefecture to govern the Hida Province starting in 1586. In 1692 Hida became an Imperial fief, and when the Kanamori family transferred to another fief, the Sato family settled down in Furukawa and became farmers. Afterwards, the Sato family made their fortune through the wholesale of salt and other activities, and thus became one of the leading farming families in Hida.

Following that, the eighth generation Hikotaro was employed in numerous occupations including the Furukawa bank, postal director, Silk reeling factory, and many others which contributed to the local industries. For many generations, this old and famous family has been a representative of Hida and has produced many executives and others in various fields such as culture, politics, economy, industry, medical care, etc.

The Sato family was burned their house to the ground during the Umemura Riot∗ in year 2 of the Meiji Era (1869). The current building was rebuilt in year 3 of the Meiji Era (1870). Since then the building has seen very little additional construction, and is now a very valuable building which retains the architectural style of Hida wealthy farmers in the early Meiji Era.

∗ Umemura Riot (Meiji Era) - This was a large riot that occurred when conservative farmers staged riots against rapid government-led agricultural reforms. Relevant agencies of the government office were destroyed, and officials’ houses were attacked.