The Former Chiba Family Residence (Saigoku Kaido)

In the Edo period (1603-1868), the town of Kaita prospered as a post town along the Saigoku Kaido, a major highway connecting Kyoto to Shimonoseki (Yamaguchi Prefecture) and Kyushu.
About a five-minute walk from JR Kaitaichi Station, a magnificent mansion facing the street is the former home of the Chiba family, where important people from the shogunate and feudal lords used to stay and rest.

The former Chiba family residence consists of the main building, which was mainly used as a living space, the tatami room building, which was built for entertaining guests, the tsunoya, which was used as a cooking space, and a garden called Izumi-niwa. In particular, the Shoin, a tatami room building in the sukiya style built in 1774, has been designated as an important cultural property of Hiroshima Prefecture as it conveys the image of the reception space of the time. The garden, which is thought to have been remodeled at the same time, is also designated as a place of scenic beauty by the prefecture.