Detached Room from the Former Residence of Fleet Admiral Tōgō
This small building was once part of the residence of Tōgō Heihachirō (1848–1934), Fleet Admiral of the Imperial Navy and a national war hero. The building is known as a “detached room” (hanare), and Tōgō used it as a place to relax and entertain guests during his tenure as Chief of Staff at Kure Naval Base from May 1890 through December 1891.
Tōgō was born into a samurai family in Satsuma domain (now Kagoshima Prefecture). He joined the Imperial Navy at an early age and was sent to England for seven years to study naval science. Upon returning to Japan, Tōgō continued rising in rank until he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Navy. Under his command, a small group of warships nearly destroyed the Imperial Russian Navy’s Baltic Fleet at the Battle of Tsushima (1905), a time when Russia was considered the world’s third strongest naval power. This unexpected outcome led the Japanese Navy to victory in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905) and ended Russia’s naval dominance in East Asia. In recognition of this feat, Tōgō was promoted to fleet admiral.
The detached room was originally situated in the garden of Tōgō’s main house in the Miyahara neighborhood, where it overlooked Kure Naval Base. The sloping hill that led from his residence to the naval base is still known as “Tōgō Hill.” The building was moved to its current location at the Irifuneyama Memorial Museum in 1980, and it now serves as a place to rest for local residents and visitors to the museum. It was designated a Tangible Cultural Property by the national government in 1997.
