Reflect on the History of the Head Office and Sanjo Works—Pioneering the Way to the Future from the Site of the Residence of Minamoto no Toru, the Model for Hikaru Genji—

The residence of Minamoto no Toru, the model for Hikaru Genji (the Shining Genji, or Hikaru kimi), the main character in The Tale of Genji, was likely situated where the Shimadzu Head Office and Sanjo Works are now located, it was announced by Masakazu Yamamoto, Director of the Kyoto City Archaeological Museum. The deciding factor was an assessment of the objects unearthed during a series of buried cultural treasures surveys.

Here, we will look at this location where nobles lived during the Heian era, while reflecting on life a century ago and a thousand years ago.

 

2025 (the present)

Shimadzu Head Office and Sanjo Works are situated 1.5 km west of JR Nijo Station, the western edge of Nakagyo-ku in Kyoto. The area covers about 187,000 m² (roughly 26 times the size of a soccer court). The area is utilized by more than 5,000 members of the Shimadzu Group, who participate in the development and production of analytical instruments, medical systems, industrial machinery, aircraft equipment, and other products.

 

Shimadzu Head Office and Sanjo Works (1, Nishinokyo Kuwabara-cho, Nakagyo-ku, Kyoto) aerial view, south side

1919 (100 Years Ago)

Looking at the history of Sanjo Works, it opened for business on this site in 1919. The land had been purchased for the purpose of business expansion following the incorporation of Shimadzu in 1917.

At the time, this land was a high-humidity area known as Azakuwabara, Sujakunomura, Kadonogun, Kyoto. When it began to be used as one of business sites, it did not have the Head Office functions or the scale that it now has. When the site opened in 1919, it was 33,000 m² in size. It grew gradually as an additional 26,000 m² was purchased in 1937, and a further 71,000 m² was purchased in 1940.

Paintings from around 1950 depict large buildings, a factory with a triangular roof, smoke rising from smokestacks, and even train tracks that had been laid down within the premises.

 

1,000 Years Ago

The land at Sanjo Works, if described using the old grid system of the Heian era, corresponds to the Ukyo Sanjo Sambo (3 cho to 12 cho). This was 1.5 km from the Heian Palace, the center of Heian-kyo, and was apportioned to particularly high-status individuals within the nobility. In the grid system, a 120 meter square division was called 1 cho, and a collection of 12 cho was called 1 bo. At the time, 1 cho, which would have been an expansive site, was only apportioned to imperial family members or nobility of at least rank three.

Rebuilding of the Factory Buildings and the Excavation Surveys—Precious Opportunities to Make Sense of History—

At Sanjo Works, which is on land designated as a Kyoto City Buried Cultural Properties Preservation Site, archaeological surveys are implemented as needed, based on the Act on Protection of Cultural Properties when factory buildings are rebuilt.

Shimadzu’s first Buried Cultural Properties Survey was implemented at Sanjo Sambo 10 cho in 1979. In this survey, mid to late 9th century buildings as well as 10th century tombs with wooden coffins were discovered. Copper mirrors, face powder pots, and tweezers were recovered from the tombs with wooden coffins.

Artifacts recovered from tombs with wooden coffins, recovered during Shimadzu’s first survey
(Sanjo Sambo 10 cho)

To date, 12 excavation surveys have been performed at Head Office and Sanjo Works, and history is gradually coming to make sense through these surveys over many years. The surveys are connected over dozens of years, and the overall picture comes into focus like a history puzzle.

Interview with the Director of the Kyoto City Archaeological Museum (Basis for Asserting that this was the Residence of Minamoto no Toru)

We asked Masakazu Yamamoto, Director of the Kyoto City Archaeological Museum, why he asserted that the land survey at Ukyo Sanjo Sambo Sanjo 5 cho was likely the residence of Minamoto no Toru.

Minamoto no Toru was the imperial prince of Emperor Saga. He left the imperial family and became a retainer. Because of his circumstances and splendid appearance, as well as Kawaranoin, which he had built at Rokujo, he became one of the models for the main character in The Tale of Genji.

 

Survey of Shimadzu Sanjo Works (Heian-kyo Sanjo Sambo 5 cho), Shimadzu Photograph

Director Yamamoto's reasons for asserting that this land is the site of the residence of Minamoto no Toru are as follows.

1. The land is close to the Heian Palace.
2. Spacious sites on the scale of 1 cho were only apportioned to nobles of rank three or higher.
3. A large Heian-era building of the highest quality was uncovered during the excavation survey.
4. An item noted in the Shugaisho, a document from the Period of Southern and Northern Courts:
   This land is referred to as the region of Seikaji Temple. Seikaji was constructed from Seikakan, the mountain villa of Minamoto no Toru, meaning that it was owned by Minamoto no Toru.
5. A large amount of green-glazed pottery, a high status item created at the Sanage kiln (present day Toyota City in Aichi Prefecture) has been recovered here.
   This beautiful pottery, with its shiny finish, was also recovered from the site of the residence of the Emperor Emeritus Saga (Reizei-in), strongly suggesting a link to Minamoto no Toru.

On the basis of such findings, the possibility that the residence of Minamoto no Toru was at Ukyo Sanjo Sambo 5 cho was announced in 2024.

Grave of Murasaki Shikibu, Adjacent to Shimadzu Murasakino Works

It should be noted that the grave of Murasaki Shikibu, who was the author of The Tale of Genji, is adjacent to the Murasakino Works (opened in 1944), a production site for Shimadzu testing machines, which seems like quite a strange coincidence given this announcement.

 

Supporting Materials

1.The distance to Heian Palace Suzakumon is only about 1.5 km.
(This is an area where the nobility resided.)

 

5.Items on display at the Kyoto City Archaeological Museum
Small green-glazed pottery bowl (front left) uncovered from the Shimadzu Sanjo Works (Sanjo Sambo 5 cho), and one uncovered from Reizei-in (front center). Both are characterized by the way the glaze reflects the light

We asked Director Yamamoto about what happened on this land in the interval between when it was the residence of Minamoto no Toru 1,000 years ago and the purchase of the land by Shimadzu 100 years ago.

The strata between the surface layer and the layer at which the ruins from 1,000 years ago were found to indicate multiple instances of flooding and cultivation, suggesting that people here led resilient lives and were not defeated by natural disasters. Through such stories, we now know that Shimadzu has amassed a history on a site marked by resilient human activity, following a period of glamorous aristocratic life.

Our 150th Anniversary

In 1875, Shimadzu Corporation started when Genzo Shimadzu Sr. began to manufacture physics and chemistry instruments at the Kiyamachi-Nijo district of Kyoto. In marking our 150th anniversary in 2025, we will continue to pioneer the way to the future from this location as a corporation Contributing to Society through Science and Technology.