佃島に建つ築100年の魚問屋　旧飯田家住宅保存活用プロジェクト

Iida House Preservation and Reuse Project

 

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Protect the layout and scenery of a 400 year-old fishing community in the heart of Tokyo!

 

Tsukudajima, located in the heart of downtown Tokyo, is one of the few surviving remnants of the city’s pre-twentieth century urban landscape. With the passing of community leader Tsuneo Iida in February 2022, the historic Iida House was left vacant, raising fears of its demolition. In response, scholars and architects completed a thorough survey of the structure that confirmed its historical significance. Furthermore, prospective renters have emerged.

 

Therefore, the building owner, concerned locals, and the survey team have created a plan to preserve the Iida House by renovating it to contain retail space, office space, and an upstairs co-living space for students. The team is now seeking crowdfunding to cover renovation costs.

 

Architectural Features and Historical Significance

The Iida House was built in 1920 as a residence and commercial space for Tsukuda Kihachi, a fish wholesale business in the Nihonbashi Fish Market. Located on Tsukudajima’s central road, it is a two-story wooden townhouse notable for its protruding eaves (dashigeta). Having been a fish wholesale business, it sports a large earthen floor room with a fish holding tank and a hand-pump well on its north side, as well as a separate residential entrance on its south side. The high lintel over the entrance to the earthen-floor room marks the high stature of the business owner, and its threshold was made to be detachable in order to accommodate large hand-drawn wagons.

 

The second floor contains a rustic tatami room made using uniquely-shaped juniper wood. It has been said that Ichizo Kobayashi, the founder of the Hankyu Corporation, resided there in the early 1930s during the opening of his Tokyo Takarazuka Theater.

 

The Iida House stands on a narrow rectangular lot characteristic of Tsukudajima’s street layout and residential land allotments in the early 18th century. Moreover, as is characteristic of a dense fishing community, the property contains two alleyways on its north and south ends that extend to the banks of the Sumida River. Residents of Tsukudajima’s traditional homes incorporate this network of alleyways into their lives in clever ways.

 

Along its southern alleyway, the Iida House uses stylish latticed windows and glass shoji doors to let in light while maintaining privacy. In the rear of the northern alley stands an add-on structure built in the early 1930s to house a kitchen and bath, which is accessible via a backdoor from the main building. The kitchen sports a spotlight and has a great deal of under-floor storage, and a drying balcony off the second story looks out over the alleyway. These and other details are a testament to the lifestyle innovations necessary when living in a densely-packed fishing community.

 

Aside from having been one of Tsukudajima’s major fish wholesalers, the Iida House has also long been a center for the local community. The house is used as a staging point during the local “Sumiyoshi Festival,” during which the community digs up massive flag poles buried in the Tsukuda Canal and installs them around the neighborhood.

 

In these ways, both as a major fish wholesaler and as a center for the local community, the Iida House has long been a standard bearer for the incredibly unique way of life found in Tsukudajima, which traces its roots back over four centuries. By preserving and utilizing this precious piece of historic architecture, we hope to ensure that Tsukudajima maintains its identity as a place in Tokyo’s waterfront area well into the future.

History of Tsukudajima

 

Tsukudajima is an artificial island created in 1644 at a vital location in Edo Bay, in the tideflats at the mouth of the Sumida River. The island was made by and for fisherpeople who were ordered by the Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu to relocate to Edo from Tsukuda Village in Settsu Province (present day northern Osaka). More artificial islands were created near Tsukuda starting in the late 19th century, but its street layout remains relatively the same as 400 years ago. Having escaped damage during the Kanto Earthquake and air raids during the Pacific War, many historic buildings and homes remain as well. It is an extremely rare sight to behold in present day Tokyo, which has undergone so much redevelopment.

 

Significance of the Iida House

 

As part of its preservation and reuse efforts, and with an eye toward designating the Iida House as a National Tangible Cultural Asset, on May 15 and July 6, 2022 the Committee for the Reuse of Tsukudajima’s Iida House performed on-site structural surveys in order to illuminate the home’s value as a cultural asset. The results were presented by Prof. Hirohisa Ito (Tokyo University of Science) at a December 6, 2022 symposium hosted by the Tokyo Society of Architects & Building Engineers under the title “The History of Tsukudajima’s Residential Environment and the Architectural Significance of the Iida House.”

 

Committee for the Reuse of Tsukudajima’s Iida House

 

Hideaki Shimura

Professor, Shibaura Institute of Technology

Focus: Town development. Member, Tokyo Society of Architects & Building Engineers

 

Hirohisa Ito

Professor, Tokyo University of Science

Focus: Urban history, architectural history

 

Yoko Ito

Professor Emeritus, Shibaura Institute of Technology

Focus: Architectural history

 

Shingo Saito

Assistant Professor, Tokyo University of Science

Focus: Architectural design

 

Masaru Tanaka

Tsukudajima Resident

 

Tsuneaki Nakano

Professor Emeritus, Shibaura Institute of Technology

Director, APL Associates, Inc.

Member, Tokyo Society of Architects & Building Engineers

 

Kayo Kabeya

Owner, Iida House

 

Kei Hagiwara

Master’s Student, Shibaura Institute of Technology Graduate School of Architecture

 

Renovation Overview

 

【Timeline】

Early April: On-site survey work

Early April thru Late May: Building clean-up by volunteers

Early May thru Late June: Design planning

Late May thru Early July: Budget fine-tuning and contractor selection

July: Construction

Early August: Construction complete. Tenants move in

 

Amount needed for renovation work: 10,000,000 JPY

Crowdfunding Phase 1 Target: 3,000,000 JPY

Crowdfunding Type: All or nothing (Funding will only be kept if the target is met)

 

【How Funding Will be Used】

 Building Preservation and Maintenance Costs

・Pre-construction survey costs (Refine survey materials: floor plan, cross-section, unfolded view)

 

◼️ Building Reuse Costs

・Cleaning and removal of household items

・Planning costs (concept, structure, and equipment)

・Construction costs (building and furniture)

・Survey and other costs related to National Registered Tangible Cultural Asset application

・Fire insurance and other expenses

 

Maintaining a Space Open to the Community

 

 The Iida House will be repurposed as a shared space containing a mix of diverse uses.

 

① In addition to accommodating a small business related to Tsukudajima, the first floor will be used to provide rentable meeting space and share office space.

 

② The second floor will be used as a sharehouse.

◼️ Anticipated Use Cases

① Tsukudajima-related Small Business (First Floor)

・Should serve daily needs of local residents

・Should serve tourists from Japan and abroad looking for souvenirs, etc.

 

② Rental Space (First Floor)

・Primary use will be as hub for observation and tourism of a Registered Tangible Cultural Asset (the building) and the Tsukudajima neighborhood

・Will be accessible for everyday use by local residents

・Will be accessible for use as base facility by academics and professionals

 

③ Sharehouse (Second Floor)

・A residential space for young people

 

Call for Support

In Tokyo, where land prices are steep and redevelopment pressures are strong, community making that preserves and reuses local historical and cultural resources is growing increasingly difficult. With much ingenuity and hardship, historically- and culturally-informed community making is being undertaken throughout the city, but there are heaps of challenges that defy simple resolution. As such, concerned people across Tokyo have set up the Tokyo Partnership for Historically- and Culturally-Informed Community Making, and are working to share information about the conditions and challenges they face, along with methods for utilizing our historical resources. The successful preservation and reuse of Tsukudajima’s Iida House would be a major step for historically- and culturally-informed community making in Tokyo as a whole. It is also a forward-thinking effort aimed at nurturing local communities and building walkable neighborhoods. Bringing this project to fruition with everyone truly holds a great deal of meaning. I ask for your kind understanding and support.

 

Note: Permission to undertake crowdfunding for this project has been obtained from the land and building owner (Kayo Kabeya, Committee for the Reuse of Tsukudajima’s Iida House)

 

Project Head:

Hideaki Shimura (Shibaura Institute of Technology & Committee for the Reuse of Tsukudajima’s Iida House)

 

Project End Date:

August 1, 2023

 

Project Outline & How Funding Will Be Used:

In the event that the funding goal is met, this project will perform repairs on the Iida House. Collected funds will cover pre-construction survey costs, planning costs, construction costs, survey costs related to applying for Registered Tangible Cultural Asset status, fire insurance, and other related expenses.

 

Risks and Challenges:

Regarding the gap between overall project cost and the fundraising goal: any gap between the overall project cost and the fundraising target will be made up for with personal funding sources. In the event that this gap cannot be covered with personal funds, work will be curtailed to an extent that does not significantly change the project, and refunds will not be offered.

 

please click here for English details on how to Support by Credit Card