Tamsui Itteki Memorial House
Updates : 2026-07-09
Popularity 18
Audio guide
Introduction
A warm and selfless cross-border relocation: Relocated from Ohi Town, Fukui Prefecture, Japan, Tamsui Itteki Memorial House is a wooden traditional Japanese farmhouse built around 1915. Its move to Taiwan began with the friendship between the peoples of Taiwan and Japan forged through two earthquakes: the Great Hanshin Earthquake in Japan and the 921 Earthquake in Taiwan. Through the efforts of many dedicated individuals from both Taiwan and Japan, the building was dismantled in 2005 and fully reconstructed in December 2009. Over about five years, it underwent several transfers and covered a 3,000-kilometer journey from Japan to Taiwan. Beyond continuing as a platform for Taiwan-Japan exchange, the memorial house also stands as a spiritual stronghold for cross-border community building. Inside, the Tsutomu Mizukami Collection and the Chen Shunchen Collection have been established to promote the flourishing of modern literary exchange between Taiwan and Japan.
Appreciating the architectural language of a century-old farmhouse: This traditional farmhouse was built by hand by Kakuji Mizukami, father of the celebrated Japanese literary figure Tsutomu Mizukami. Its more than 600 beams and pillars were assembled without a single nail, joined instead through more than 20 types of mortise-and-tenon joints, demonstrating the refined excellence of traditional Japanese timber construction. At the heart of the house stands the Daikokubashira, the great central pillar. Counting in from outside the doorway, it is the third pillar; it is also the longest upright pillar and the one connected to the most crossbeams. In Japanese culture, it represents the father as head of the household. At the top of the pillar is the Munafuda, the old farmhouse's identity certificate: a wooden plaque wrapped in red cloth, recording the year of construction and the name of the master carpenter. Wound around the outside of the red cloth is a pair of thong straw sandals cut during the ridgepole-raising ceremony, signifying that the house had taken root and would no longer be moved. The detail invites the imagination and adds a rich sense of interest.
Admission charge
Free
