Japan In Focus

Old House Located in Central Tokyo Conveys Traditional Woodwork Techniques

The Yomiuri Shimbun
The cafe on the first floor of Imasa

By Manami Nishida / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

13:18 JST, April 28, 2025

The Yomiuri Shimbun
The exterior of Imasa

A two-story house located in Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, stands peacefully near Kanda Myojin, the main shrine of the Edo shogunate.

Imasa, also known as Kanda house, was once used as both a store and the residence of a lumber dealer and features traditional Japanese woodworking techniques. The ceiling is made from 1,500-year-old yakusugi cedar, and wooden fittings combine both delicate design and functionality.

The house was constructed in 1927 after the Great Kanto Earthquake by the Endo family, who ran a lumber business in Kanda Kamakuracho (now Uchi-Kanda in Chiyoda Ward) since the Edo period (1603-1867). The house is said to have been named Imasa as successive generations of the family had inherited the name of Izutsuya Masazo. Imasa was apparently coined by combining the “I” of Izutsuya and the “Masa” of Masazo.

Due to the development of the area during the period of rapid economic growth, one-third of the building was moved to Tokyo’s Fuchu. In 2008, the building was moved back to Soto-Kanda in Chiyoda Ward, as it was registered as a tangible cultural asset by the Chiyoda municipal government.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
A tea-ceremony room with traditional Japanese furnishings

The building is currently managed by a nonprofit organization. The earthen floor space on the first floor, which once was used for business negotiations, now houses a Japanese-style cafe. Artwork owned by the Endo family is on display and is cycled depending on the season.

Visitors can feel the atmosphere of the business run by an Edo period merchant through items such as an altar to pray for business prosperity, a lumber merchant’s signboard and a storage box made from a single piece of yakusugi cedar on display.

The inside of the building is usually closed to the public, but visitors can take a look inside in special events held twice a year. Every room is carefully designed in detail, making it feel like a treasure hunt. The handles on the shelves in the tea room on the first floor, for example, are made from metal fittings in the shape of a folding fan.

The Endo family had ties to Taira no Masakado, who is enshrined at Kanda Myojin. The family looked after the tomb of the man, a powerful figure in the middle of the Heian period, which stretched from 794 to the late 12th century. Masakado’s tomb is located in Tokyo’s Otemachi district.

The Yomiuri Shimbun
Kanae Kobayashi shows a room in Imasa.

Noriko Hirano, the president of the society for the preservation of the tomb, grew up in the house. She said it was a stroke of luck that the house was relocated next to Kanda Myojin.

“The house itself may have chosen this location,” said Kanae Kobayashi, director of Imasa, with a smile.

Visitors to the house can feel the Japanese tradition as well as the curious connections during its long history. This relaxed sense of time may be just what busy, modern people need.