Iruma Seiyoukan or Foreigner house

Our family went on a mini field trip to the seiyoukan building. It is a western style house built back in the late 1800s and is only open certain days of the month. It was nice to see the ornate wood working of the colonial style brick house and the beautiful furniture.








There was a wealthy silk farmer who became a Christian in the late 1800's. He was dealing with Western silk dealers from New York and wanted to accommodate them by building them a home where they could stay with all the amenities of a western style home. The Christianity spread so that there was a need to build a church to accommodate the new Christians in one place. The Ishikawa family built a Church as the small revival swept through the villages in the area. The industry was known to be harsh to the workers with low pay and benefits. The Ishikawa family sought to reverse the trend by extending blessings to the workers and treating them better than the norm for that day. Pray for another move of the Holy Spirit here in Iruma.