The central building was the residence of the Horiuchi family (formerly the Akagi family) who both acted as the village’s leaders and also ran a pawn shop and a liquor store in the Edo period. It is said that the building was also where Saigo Takamori and daimyos, such as the Hosokawa clan, Shimazu clan, and Satsuma feudal lord Shimazu Nariakira, stopped to rest when traveling along the Buzen Kaido Road.
For this reason, the building is a unique combination of regular rooms for the family business and tea room as well as special rooms to accommodate visiting lords such as the Onari no Ma room for lords to sit in peace, the Tonari no Ma antechamber, and the Goyo Hito no Ma room for chamberlains. The shining black pillars and beams and the wooden inlay on the kamoi (Japanese sliding doors) remain just as they were back then, making it a perfect place to see the wonders of traditional Japanese wooden architecture.
The museum contains exhibits such as 9th-generation Akagi Danzo’s Kenmonki (report of personal experiences) written during his trip to Kyoto with Hosokawa Moriyoshi at the behest of the Meiji government, the Horiuchi clan's ancient documents spanning from the Edo period to the Showa era, and tools that show the lifestyle of people at that time.
On top of all this, the exhibits also include materials related to Navy Colonel Horiuchi Toyoaki, the founder of the navy’s gymnastics and the captain and commander of Japan's first parachute unit, who was born in this very building.
If you visit as a group and would like the director to give you a tour, please consult us in advance.