Former Ozawa Family Residence, Traditional machiya merchant house in Kamiokawamae-dori, Niigata, Japan

The Former Ozawa Family Residence is a traditional wooden merchant house in Niigata that combines living quarters and commercial space under one roof. The building features tatami flooring, narrow corridor design, and small street-facing windows typical of this architectural style.

The residence dates from the period when the Ozawa family operated various trading businesses in Niigata, including transport services, storage management, and rice wholesale. The building represents an example from the era when such houses shaped economic and social life in trading cities.

The residence shows how the family lived and worked together in the same building, with traditional hearth spaces where residents gathered for cooking and daily tasks. These shared areas reveal how domestic life and commerce were deeply connected in this merchant household.

The house stands in Chūō-ku, Niigata, near the Kamiōkawamae-dōri area. The Niigata sightseeing loop bus stops at "Kyū Ozawa-ke Jūtaku Iriguchi", right by the site; Niigata Kōtsū lines C5 and C6 stop at Higashi-Ōdōri 12-banchō, about three minutes on foot. The Shimohonchō shopping street is nearby.

In 2002 the Ozawa family donated the land and buildings to Niigata City, and on 24 August 2006 the city designated seven structures — the main house, new and detached reception rooms, tool and household storehouses, the storehouse front with connecting corridor, and the gate with its east wall — together with the grounds as municipal cultural property.