Kids Web Japan

More than two centuries old, the Jyuemon Gassho-style home today serves as living quarters as well as a family-run inn, or minshuku. The tatami-mat rooms on the first floor are reserved for guests. The room where cows were once kept has been converted into a storage room, and the rooms on the second floor where the silkworms were bred have been turned into living quarters for the family. The house has a new kitchen with modern conveniences, but the hearth on the first floor still stays lit, providing a warm welcome for guests to the inn.

In the winter, the region gets a lot of snow, and people often have to clear it from the roof, which is very hard work. In 1981 the area got a record amount of snowfall, and a hole opened up on the eastern side of the roof of Jyuemon house. The following spring, they rethatched this side. A few years ago, the western side of the roof was also replaced.