Kanda House

The Kanda House is an observation facility of the “Gassho-Zukuri” houses built in the late Edo period. The Kanda family started when Sajiemon Wada established a branch family from the Wada family and settled in this area.
This is an extremely rare case as Shirakawa village’s limited farmland made it very difficult for siblings to branch off from the main family tree.
Although Sajiemon was the second son of the Wada family, he changed his last name to Kanda, which means “holy field”, when he formed his branch family. This last name is said to originate from the holy field by the Ubusuna Hachimangu Shrine, located at the region where he built his house.
During the late Edo period, the house was built over ten years by an architect of shrines and temples from Ishikawa Prefecture.
The pine tree beams are superb, with a thickness of 60 centimeters .
The house has a unique middle-floor which was made to accommodate the large family. It is said that domestic assistants and unmarried siblings lived on the middle floor, and a small window was built to monitor the fireplace to prevent fires. As a result, the fireplace still continues to operate in good condition to this day.
You can also taste the wild herb tea brewed on this fireplace.