Shibata Ashigaru Nagaya

Background

This is a nagaya, or longhouse, with apartments for eight ashigaru. It is very typical housing for ashigaru. It was strategically positioned with four similar nagaya along the Aizu Kaido highway for defense.

This building is an Important Cultural Property because it is kept in such good condition and because original buildings that show the lifestyle of the ashigaru are very rare.

Gallery

Ashigaru Nagaya

You can see a couple of the doors to different apartments.

Inside one of the apartments

map of the longhouse

Ashigaru Nagaya

Entrance to one of the apartments

Shibata Ashigaru Nagaya Profile
English Name	Shibata Ashigaru Nagaya
Japanese Name	旧新発田藩足軽長屋
Year	1842
Residence Type	Ashigaru
Designations	Important Cultural Property
Features	House
Visitor Information	The outside is in a park and seems to be open anytime. The inside does not seem to be open.
Website	http://hoppou-bunka.com/shimizuen/ashigaru.html
Location	Shibata, Niigata Prefecture
Castle	Shibata Castle
Coordinates	37° 56' 36.82" N, 139° 19' 44.22" E
Shibata Castle and nearby Samurai Homes
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Visits	October 9, 2011
Added Jcastle	2018

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ARTShogun

55 months ago

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足軽長屋　［新発田］　Ashigaru-Nagaya (Shibata)

I’m sure samurai fans are familiar with Ashigaru. Nagaya means “row house,” individual tenements sharing inside walls under a single roof. This Nagaya for Ashigaru dates to the early 1800s. During the Edo Period many of them were built in this area of the castle town. These are basically the samurai version of single bedroom flats. They contain a genkan, kitchen area and a main room. They wouldn’t have been too small I think but after all occupants probably shared them too. The higher ranking a retainer, in general, the bigger his living space, but of course Ashigaru were just foot soldiers so they had the bare minimum. That said even middle-ranking samurai had such cramped conditions when on Sankin-Kōtai duty in Edo. Could you live as a samurai like this?

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