History/history

former Kato residence is a house built in 1925 by Yasumichi Kato, a descendant of the former Ozu feudal lord, as an office to manage the Kato family's property in the city and as a residence when returning home. Even now, it retains its appearance at the time of construction, and was registered as a national registered tangible cultural property in 2007 as a house that shows the lifestyle of the former daimyo family before the war. In 2021, after renovation work, part of the first floor was opened to the public, and part of the first floor and second floor were reborn as the MITI building of NIPPONIA HOTEL Ozu castle-town.

Modern Japanese-style architecture with the high formality of a former feudal lord's mansion

It is a two-story wooden hipped building, and the second floor has a veranda on three sides and an open structure with glass shoji for the rain shutters, and the high level of formality typical of the residence of a former daimyo family and the modernity of the Western style can be seen everywhere. It is regarded as a luxury house before the war, and is one of the modern Japanese-style buildings that represents Ozu.