About Shukunegi

In old times, the architecture in Shukunegi used to consist of flat buildings. Later, the buildings started to be improved upon, rising to a full two stories in order to add a drawing room with tatami mat flooring, so that they could have more space to receive guests. An influential person, like a shipping agent, would first complete the transformation of his house, and then, other villagers?gradually began imitating the new style as it became popular.
The styles of the houses reflect living conditions such as the location of the house on a narrow piece of land, and the proximity to the sea.

In Shukunegi, as houses are packed close together in a narrow valley, most of the buildings are full two-story houses. The outer walls of the houses are made of vertically grained timber called tsutsumi-ita (literally: wrapping plank), so that it can protect against sea breezes blowing off the Sea of Japan. In contrast with the simple appearance of the outside, the interiors have elaborate designs with much lacquer coating.

Shukunegi is a village that developed facing the sea. It is located approximately four kilometres to the south-west from Ogi Port, which was a port of call on the western shipping route. It prospered as a base for the shipping industry, on the Sea of Japan, from the middle of the Edo Period to the Meiji Period.

The maritime shipping business at the time did not work in a direct way. An example of a direct shipping route would be if merchants delivered rice grown in Echigo (present Niigata) to Osaka in the west via the western shipping route. From there, they could then purchase salt and other commodities in Osaka, to sell in Hokkaido, in the north. By contrast, cargo ships of the time were private merchant ships (kaizumisen), which made stops at many ports along the route, and exploited the price difference in order to make a profit.

At around that time, 500 people in 120 households lived in the community of Shukunegi, including a dozen shipowners, shipmen and shipbuilders. In addition, various shops and craftsmen such as a salted fish shop, a tub maker, a dye shop, a blacksmith, a stone mason, and others begin to gather there. The village developed as a base for shipbuilding, in addition to the shipping industry, and that formed the foundation of the rows of houses that can still be seen today. In Shukunegi, in addition to its characteristic, close-packed houses, there are two open spaces on the shore facing the sea and at the back of the valley. Almost all of the houses are built to make full use of the land on an alleyway called koji and the majority of the alleys lead to an open space, called Ohama, near the sea. Ohama was the place for unloading cargo from sengokubune freights, and shipbuilding, which served as a connection to far-away Hokkaido and Osaka for a long time.
Another open space is located near the upper stream of Shokoji River, the river that flows through the hamlet, where Shukunegi Community Hall now stands. This area was a precinct of four temples, including Shokoji Temple's subordinate temples (matsuji) until the beginning of the Meiji Period, and later became the centre of the village where former Misakimura Village Office and an elementary school were built. It is now a recreational area, where villagers gather, and underpins locals' everyday life.

Three areas, including Yachi (the two open spaces near the sea), Takayama, (a plateau), and Shukunegi Shinden, (on the heights a short distance away), combined to make a village that supported the passage of sengokubune. Since then, the land closest to the port became most highly valued, and the three areas were ranked in order of closest to furthest, which is Yachi, Takayama, and Shinden.

Later on, in the last year of the Meiji Period, freight ships in Shukunegi gradually started to disappear, as steam ships and rails emerged, and telecommunication developed. Many people left the sea, dug horizontal wells and started to cultivate fields on the hill. Shipbuilders departed from Shukunegi, seeking other job opportunities, and Shukunegi became a village where inhabitants leave to work away from home. Now 180 people in sixty households live there quietly. The village has become primarily a farming and fishing community, but the prosperity of the good old days can still be felt across the village.