The old townhouses in Jinaimachi Jinanimachi, have farmhouse-like floor plans and construction techniques. Among these houses, the former Sugiyama family residence is a large, high-quality merchant residence that has been designated an Important Cultural Property of Japan.
The Sugiyama family is an old family that has been in Tondabayashi Jinanimachi since its founding, and was involved in the management of the town throughout the Edo period as one of the Tondabayashi Eight Honinshu. In 1685 (the 2nd year of the Jōkyō era), the family acquired a sake brewery share and continued to thrive as a sake brewery until the mid-Meiji period. It is also the birthplace of Isonokami Tsuyuko, a poet of the Myojo school who was as active as Yosano Akiko during the Meiji period.