‘Modern-style Villa on Bomunsan, Daejeon’ Announced for Cultural Heritage Registration

'Daejeon Bomunsan Modern-style Villa', a single-story villa building from the 1930s left on Bomunsan. Provided by Daejeon City

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] The modern-style villa on Bomunsan Mountain in Daejeon has been announced for registration as a cultural asset by Daejeon City.

On the 25th, Daejeon City announced that it is promoting the registration of the former Bomunsa temple's monks' quarters as a city cultural asset. During the 30-day registration announcement period starting from the 24th, the city plans to finalize the registration decision within the year through additional investigations, public opinion collection, and review by the Cultural Heritage Committee.

This building was a family villa built in 1931 by Tsutsuji Mantar? (?? Mantar?, 1909?1983), a Japanese resident in Korea living in Daejeon, and was used as the monks' quarters of Bomunsa Temple until recently.

Named the "Daejeon Bomunsan Modern-style Villa," this building is a modest single-story house with a building area of 68㎡. Although it has undergone some alterations due to changes in ownership after liberation, its floor plan, structure, and form have been preserved in their original state.

In particular, the sunroom installed facing due south to enjoy the external scenery is a distinctive feature of the "villa" architecture, different from typical houses. Additionally, decorative transom windows above the sliding doors connecting rooms and protruding external windows are evaluated as elements that preserve the building's period characteristics and historical value.

The owner and builder, Tsutsuji Mantar?, is known as a representative Japanese entrepreneur residing in Korea during the Japanese colonial period, frequently appearing in regional records such as the Joseon Daejeon Development Records (1917) and Chungnam Development History (1933).

Tsutsuji Mantar? was born in 1909 in Daejeon as the son of Tsutsuji Kinnosuke (?? Kinnosuke), who settled in Daejeon in 1905. He developed the Fujichu Brewing Factory, located in present-day Won-dong, Dong-gu, Daejeon, into one of the nation's leading enterprises.

According to research by Professor Lim Sang-il (Department of Economics, Daejeon University) included in a 2015 policy report by the Daejeon Sejong Research Institute, "Unlike Nagano K?suke, a capitalist of the military supply factory who harshly exploited Korean workers, the Tsutsuji family regarded Daejeon as their hometown and had a pro-Korean management philosophy that valued relationships with Koreans."

In fact, founders of local Daejeon companies such as Namsun Machinery, Jinmi Foods, and Daechang Foods were alumni of Fujichu Brewing Factory, indicating that Tsutsuji Mantar? and Fujichu Brewing indirectly had a significant influence on the formation of early local businesses in Daejeon.

A city official stated, "Once the registration of the Daejeon Bomunsan Modern-style Villa as a cultural asset is officially announced, we will proceed with restoration work in consultation with relevant departments and establish appropriate utilization plans to open it to the public. Since cultural asset registration requires careful consideration, we plan to conduct thorough opinion gathering and data investigation until the registration is finalized."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.