Kawabata House

Kawabata House is a historical building located in Fujioka City, Gunma Prefecture, Kita-Kanto, Japan, along the Nakasendo Road, a historical road linking Tokyo and Kyoto. Kita-kanto was once the center of the modern silk industry in Japan. The Kawabata family, which started out by raising silkworms, was successful in the silk trade and built many elaborate buildings from the late Edo period to the Showa period. Today, 19 of these buildings are registered as “Registered Tangible Cultural Properties” designated by the Japanese government. The main house is the main living space, and the villa is for guests. These two buildings are surrounded by a garden. The site used to be called the “Iccho mansion” (Iccho is about 10,000 square meters), and included storehouses, wells, and Inari Shrine, most of which are registered as cultural assets by the government. However, its splendor has gone largely unnoticed. This is partly because it is tightly isolated from the outside world by two gates and two walls, and partly because it is actually a private residence.

There is another special aspect to the Kawabata House. The current owners, Tsai Jaw-Shen and his wife, Tsai Yoshiko, have breathed new life into the house. Born in Taiwan to parents from mainland China, Jaw-Shen is still an active quantum physicist. Yoshiko is a descendant of the Kawabata family and studied interior design in the United States. The two of them have been working for decades with passion and energy to renovate the abandoned and dilapidated complex with dedication, care and effort, restoring the glorious and splendid exterior of the former manor house created by the wealth of the silk trade, in addition to the unique design of the new interior. While most of the cultural properties were only for visitors, Kawabata House is also a home, a home that expresses the owner’s creative philosophy of life.

There are 19 Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in the Kawabata House compound. This section introduces the main house, which is still used as a residence, and the villa, which was built as a guest house, as well as the two gates.

The most distinctive feature of Kawabata House from other cultural property buildings is its interiors. Between the villa for entertaining guests and the two comfortable storehouses always ready for occupancy (both Registered Tangible Cultural Properties), a perfect balance is maintained between the intrinsic charm of the cultural property building itself and the aesthetics of the rich cultural life accumulated by the owner. Only Kawabata House can provide such a spatial experience. The interior is repeatedly punctuated by various forms of Mariano Fortuny’s silk lamps, various birdcages, Western sofas placed in Japanese spaces, and the occasional handmade pieces made by the owner’s own hands (of such quality that one would not believe they were homemade).

In the main house, which is the main living space, this attempt at interior design is even bolder in its expression. While maintaining the original structure of the building on one side, new walls were erected in the interior, with various openings in the thick walls at various points and the insertion of an open staircase on all sides. The result is an open and varied space that is exciting just to walk around in. The interior is a space that stimulats curiosity, with furniture, fabrics, color schemes, wall decorations, artwork, greenery and knick-knacks, all derived from a great deal of intelligence/wisdom/knowledge and passion. Most appealing are the paintings by Yoshiko Tsai that often catch the eye. Sometimes as art, sometimes as trompe l’oeil, these images are freely painted on walls, doors, pillars, chairs, cushions and other places. The interior and exterior of the main house reveal the personalities of the two owners, as if they were works of art created by geniuses with all their creativity.

The tension between the owners and their cultural assets gives a strong sense of the Kawabata House as a living cultural assets, very different from the glass case exhibits of a museum. The home provides an alternative model for possibilities of maintaining and utilizing cultural resources.

The silk industry brought prosperity to the Kawabata family. Unfortunately, detailed information about the success of the Kawabata clan has not been adequately researched, but why were such cultural assets constructed in this region? The reason can be understood from the region’s close ties to the silk industry.　

After Japan became the world’s largest exporter of raw silk in the Meiji era, the silk industry became a core industry that long supported the modernization of Japan. Sericulture had flourished in Gunma Prefecture since the Edo period, and because of its convenient transportation, Gunma prospered as a distribution center for raw silk and became the center of Japan’s silk industry through national investments such as the Tomioka Silk Factory and the railroad network. Many people were successful not only in production but also in trading and export trade. The Kawabata family was one of them. Here is a more detailed compilation.

1. Silk originated in China

Silk originated in mainland China about 5,000 years ago. As the term “Silk Road” implies, it had a special appeal and became a driving force in world exchanges. Silk is one of the four major fibers, alongside linen, cotton and wool. In the 20th century, however, the demand for silk was replaced by synthetic fibers. In Japan, the silk market peaked in the 1950s and has been shrinking ever since. However, there is no substitute for its beauty. As a luxury fiber, the global market for silk continues to grow, and China is once again the largest producer.

2. The origins of the silk industry in Japan

The silk industry in Japan is said to have spread from mainland China during the Yayoi period (BC3000 ~ AD200) along with the rice culture. As a valuable commodity, silk was also used to pay taxes to the imperial court. Its use gradually expanded, giving rise to a clothing culture unique to Japan that was different from that of linen, such as the Jyu-ni-Hitoe style of the Heian period and the Kosode kimono of the Muromachi period. However, since it was inferior to Chinese silk in terms of quality, the import of silk from China gradually increased. During the Edo period, the market expanded gradually and imports increased further due to the popularity of samurai costumes and Kosode among wealthy merchant families. In order to curb the financial crisis, the government encouraged domestic production of silk. By the end of the Edo period, Gunma, Nagano, Yamanashi, and Tohoku became the major silk production regions.

3. Ship transportation on the Tonegawa River

The Tonegawa River waterway played a large role in transporting silk from its production area to Edo (Tokyo). The Karasugawa River behind the Kawabata house is a tributary of the Tone River. Kuragano riverbank was 5 km upstream from the Kawabata House and was a representative export port for the area. Silk products shipped from Gunma and Nagano were concentrated here, and a market for silk products were formed around its perimeter. Thus, in addition to sericulture, spinning and weaving, the silk trade flourished in Gunma. In the Meiji era, the government and private individuals began to concentrate their investments in the silk industry, and such a boom created the basis for new investments.

4. A base for innovation in core industries

The Meiji government positioned raw silk as a strategic export product, and policy-based investment in the silk industry followed. Yokohama developed into an export port, Japan’s first large-scale mechanical silk factory was established in Tomioka, Gunma Prefecture, and a railroad network linking the production area to the port of Yokohama was built, replacing the Tone River water transport system. As a result, a series of technological innovations dramatically improved the quality and yield of raw silk, laying the foundation for the subsequent development of the world’s silk industry. Because of this historical significance, the Tomioka Silk Mill, among others, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Takayama-Sha is also a World Heritage Site located in Fujioka City, where the Kawabata House is. It was a private research and education facility that contributed to the development and dissemination of the excellent silkworm breeding method known as Sei-on-iku.　

5. Active silk merchants

In this environment, successful silk merchants emerged from Gunma Prefecture. Jyubei Nakaiya (1820-61), who was born in Tsumagoi Village, Gunma, was a pioneer in the export of raw silk from Yokohama. Zenzaburo Hara (1827-99, from Kamikawa-cho in Saitama Prefecture, which is across the border from Fujioka City, was famous for building Sankeien Garden in Yokohama City), Sobei Mogi (1827-94, from Takasaki City in Gunma Prefecture) and Kobei Yoshida (1836-1907, from Midori City in Gunma Prefecture), were the top five silk exporters in Yokohama at that time. Zentaro Shimomura (1827-93), who made a name for himself as a silk merchant in Yokohama, later served as the first mayor of Maebashi City in his hometown in Gunma Prefecture. At that time, there were many talented silk merchants in the area.

6. Prosperity of the Kawabata family

The Kawabata family was also associated with the prosperity of the silk trade in the area. Saizaburo Kawabata (1854-1916), Yoshiko’s great-grandfather, established the economic foundation of the Kawabata family, but details of his achievements are unknown. However, we can speculate that he followed in the footsteps of the previous generation of successful raw silk exporters (mentioned in the previous section) and succeeded by participating in the trade of raw silk both inside and outside the country. In 1900, a building of the Tokyo National Museum, called Hyokeikan, was established to celebrate the marriage of the Crown Prince (later Emperor Taisho). Saisaburo’s name can be found in the list of its donors. Motoji Kawabata (1883-1942), who was later adopted, was involved in the establishment of the Joshu Bank.

7. Heart of trading silk
Japanese silk products were modernized in the areas of sericulture, spinning, weaving and distribution to improve quality and productivity. Europe imported massive quantities of Japanese silk, and the United States, whose national power was then in the process of strengthening, also began to purchase Japanese silk. Kawabata’s success in advanced areas of the Japanese silk industry established direct connections with the rest of the world. Saizaburo Kawabata built a villa as a guest house for these guests. What kind of banquets were held here at that time? It is not hard to imagine.

Continue to see details

Close

In the midst of a wave of modern history, Jaw-Shen Tsai was born into a family of literati who came to Taiwan from mainland China. He later grew up in Tokyo and aspired to become an architect, but in order to explore the wider world, he studied low-temperature quantum physics in University of California, Berkeley and the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and became a physicist. Born into the Kawabata family, Yoshiko also lived in the United States and became familiar with life, architecture, literature, and art in various countries and regions. The aesthetic sense thus cultivated was applied in such area as interior and garden design, which received high praise.

After meeting and marrying, the two traveled all over the world, which enriched their worldview. The two devoted much of their time and passion to the reconstruction of the Kawabata house, which had fallen into disrepair and was uninhabited. It was a miraculous place, born in a land that once met the world through silk. Yet it was slowly losing its glory in obscurity. The two new owners, with their rich world view, were able to understand the charm of this place, transform it and revive it so that this historical legacy could be passed on to the present generation. It is Tsai Jaw-Shen and Yoshiko who have breathed new life into the Kawabata house.

Today, next to the main house where they spent so much time together, a statue is placed, and next to it is a granite monument bearing the inscription in memory of Tsai Yoshiko.　

Tsai Jaw-Shen / Tsai Yoshiko
1952 –        / 1941 – 2020

Yoshiko, you are the originator of the restoration of Kawabata House. You revived the devastated mansion and garden, brought it back to modern times, elevating it to a more magnificent state than at any time since its founding. This accomplishment, which was achieved with natural talent and strong will, will be remembered forever. I am most proud to have participated in and supported this reconstruction with you, my beloved.

Your husband: Tsai Jaw-Shen
Spring 2021

Kawabata Hozensha is responsible for managing the Kawabata House and preserving the value of its cultural assets, and we are considering how to use it for various activities. If you are interested in interviewing or organizing an event, please contact us here.

Email to ：info(at sign)kawabatake.jp

*Please replace ”(at sign)” into ”@” and send us mail.