Rampo's Former Residences
1. November to December 1917
Toba Shipyard
After joining the Toba Shipyard, Rampo stayed in the company’s second-floor employee club for a little over a month.
At the age of 23, Rampo started working there on November 11, 1917, through an introduction from a friend of his father. He was assigned to the Electrical Department's General Affairs Section, with a monthly salary of 20 yen, and meals provided by the company. He spent a little over a year there until January of 1919.
2. From December of 1917 to the spring of 1918
Honmachi, Toba
Lodged at the residence of Mr. Inagaki (Across from this facility, on the Ōsato Street side)
Rampo lived here from December 1917 until the following spring.
3. Spring of 1918 to around October
Shirōyama Saibi-ryō
(Currently Jōyama Park)
Rampo lived here from the spring of until around October. The room was a six-tatami mat room.
4. From November of 1918 to January of 1919
Iwasaki, Toba Town
Matsuda's private residence (In Iwasaki, Toba Town, on Iwasaki Street, near Hiyoriyama)
Due to the rise in prices, Rampo’s salary increased about threefold, so from November of, he rented the villa of a wealthy doctor, had meals delivered, and lived there until leaving the Toba Shipyard in January of the following year. He wrote that it was here that he first read Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov" and "Crime and Punishment."
Other Points of Interest
A. Muraman Shop
Sakate Village
Taro's Wife Ryuko’s Hometown
This was the home where Ryuko Murayama, who later became the wife of Rampo, was born and raised.
Muraman Shop was a general store that sold sake, rice, and other goods. At the time she met Rampo, Ryuko was working as a teacher at Sakate Elementary School.
B. Aijima (Pearl Island)
In the opening of Ranpo’s novel The Strange Tale of Panorama Island, “M Prefecture” refers to Mie Prefecture, “a bay” refers to Ise Bay, and “S District” refers to the former Shima District, which included Toba. It is said that the model for Panorama Island was Toba’s Aijima.
Today, Aijima is known as Mikimoto Pearl Island.
C. Kogakuji Temple
During the Kyōhō era, with the relocation of the Inagaki family to Toba, a Sōtō Zen temple was moved from Mikawa (Aichi Prefecture).
Ranpo visited this temple late at night on occasion, and he would sometimes practice zazen (Zen meditation).
D. The Location of the Car Crash
Late at night, Rampo and his mischievous friends were heading to Yamada City (now Ise City) for a trip when they fell off a cliff while crossing a mountain pass in a car. The car got caught on several pine trees growing along the cliffside, which saved them from falling further.
E. Hinoyama (Toba)
Rampo’s work, The Story of the Abacus Falling in Love, features a man, T, who works at a shipbuilding company as the protagonist. The story is set at Hinoyama mountain, and the landscape of Toba’s Hinoyama mountain is reminiscent in the narrative.
F. Taishinkan Inn (Todaya, Toba 1-Chome)
A photograph of Rampo and Junichi, taken in 1938, still exists.
G. Hiyoriyama Viewpoint Illustration
Hiyoriyama
H. Kinpokan Inn
I. Nagatokan Inn
J. Shihokan Inn
Ama freedivers at work
