About Northern Culture Museum
The Northern Culture Museum, also known as the Haononokan, is located in Niigata City, the capital of Niigata Prefecture in central Honshu Island, Japan. It was originally the mansion of the old Haonokan and Ito family of Niigata Prefecture and is now open to the public as a museum. The remains of the house, including beams and beams stained with soot, black and shiny pillars, and floors, remain in their original state, highlighting the life of the wealthy and prominent Ito family at that time.
The Ito mansion covers an area of 29,000 square meters and has a total floor space of 3,960 square meters, and is a purely Japanese house with 65 rooms divided into the main house. In addition to building a wall, a moat was dug around the perimeter of the house, extending from the pillars on both sides of the main entrance to the front garden, which is tens of meters away. The entrance was built entirely of zelkova wood in the style of the mountain-shaped buildings characteristic of Japanese castles and temples, highlighting the magnificence and splendor of the Ito residence.
In Showa 21, the seventh generation of the Ito family established the house as the Foundation for the Promotion of Historical Sites and Culture, and in Showa 24, it was changed to the Northern Culture Museum, and all the property of the Ito house was given to them. Visitors can imagine the luxurious life of the Ito family and also learn about the life of farmers at that time through the houses built later.
How to get there
(1)25 minutes by car from JR Niigata Station
(2)10 minutes by car from Niitsu Station on the JR Shinetsu Main Line
(3)15 minutes by car from the Niigata-Kameda IC of the Nihonkai Tohoku Expressway
Tips
It was just awesome and I was so impressed with the beauty of the building and the garden.
The view from the hall is great and I could look at it for hours.
The only drawback is the traffic.
Website
https://hoppou-bunka.com/english/