What the Horibe Family Residence Detached Parlor Is
The Horibe Family Residence Detached Parlor (堀部家住宅離座敷, Horibe-ke Jūtaku Hanare-zashiki) is a single-story wooden reception wing built in the Taishō era (1912 to 1925) on the grounds of a former samurai household in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, and it became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on March 27, 2006. It stands at 272 Minami-koken, Inuyama, joined to the east end of the south face of the main house and looking out over the garden.
The Horibe family had served the Naruse lords of Inuyama Castle. Horibe Katsushirō bought this land in the early Meiji years and built the main house in 1883, and the family made its living raising silkworms. The detached parlor is the youngest of the six buildings registered in 2006. By the time it was added, the storehouse, corridor, and workshop of the 1890s had already fixed the western and southern edges of the plot; the parlor filled the last open corner beside the garden.
The building covers 50 square meters and measures five Ken long by two and a half ken deep, about 9.1 meters by 4.5 meters. Its roof is hipped-and-gabled, the Irimoya-zukuri form, and covered with Sangawara-buki tiles.
Why the Horibe Family Residence Detached Parlor Was Registered
The Agency for Cultural Affairs registered the Horibe Family Residence Detached Parlor as a building that contributes to the historic landscape of the nation, and its database entry calls it an example of modern Japanese-style architecture. That phrase points to a moment when traditional room planning met new materials, above all sheet glass.
The plan is classic. An eight-mat zashiki, the formal room, is fitted with a Tokonoma alcove and a set of staggered shelves. Behind it an anteroom of seven mats absorbs a closet, so that the two rooms can be opened into one for guests. In a samurai house of the Edo period such a suite would have been the place to receive callers of rank, and the Horibe compound keeps that logic: the front garden between the high wall and the house was laid out with stepping stones and a lantern so that important guests could be led straight to the parlor without passing through the family's rooms.
The Engawa veranda wraps around the west and south sides. Instead of paper screens, the veranda is closed with glass shōji, and above them runs a Ranma transom also glazed. Glass let the garden into the room in every season, and it dates the building as surely as any document. The Horibe Family Residence Detached Parlor is the wing where the household showed its best face, built in the last years when such a room was still designed by hand and by tradition.
What to Look For at the Horibe Family Residence Detached Parlor
Enter from the main house through the seven-mat anteroom and pass into the eight-mat room. Pause facing the tokonoma. The alcove and the staggered shelves beside it mark where the guest of honor sat, and the depth of the two rooms together shows how much floor a household of this rank set aside for receiving visitors.
Then turn to the veranda. The glass shōji slide in their grooves much as paper screens would, but the view they frame is continuous. Look up at the glazed transom above them, which carries daylight over the screens even when they are closed. Outside, the hipped-and-gabled roof gives the wing a presence out of proportion to its 50 square meters.
The parlor connects to the main house at one end, and the corridor sets off toward the storehouse from the opposite end of the same south face. Standing on the veranda of the Horibe Family Residence Detached Parlor you can read the whole compound: family life to the north, the reception suite where you stand, service and work buildings closing the west and south. Each of those buildings has its own page on this site.
Visiting the Horibe Family Residence Detached Parlor
The Horibe Family Residence Detached Parlor is open to visitors free of charge as part of the Former Horibe Residence, a cultural facility owned by the city of Inuyama. The city received the buildings by donation and opened them to the public in fiscal 2012. Since fiscal 2015 the Kodai Niwa no Sato Cultural Heritage Network, a nonprofit, has run the site as the Kinoshita Castle Heritage Hall and Horibe Residence. The parlor, the main house, and the courtyard are the parts regularly shown, and the tatami rooms are used for concerts, exhibitions, and other events.
Opening hours are noon to 6:00 p.m. The residence closes on Mondays and Tuesdays (the following day when a public holiday falls on one of them) and from December 28 to January 4. Admission is free. A visit in the morning is possible only by reservation; call 0568-90-3744. There is no published photography policy, so ask staff before photographing the interior, and be aware that rooms may be closed during events.
The Former Horibe Residence is about a 10-minute walk from Inuyama Station or Inuyama-guchi Station on the Meitetsu line. Meitetsu Nagoya Station is about 25 minutes away and Meitetsu Gifu Station about 30 minutes. The entrance is on a narrow lane off the main road, south of the castle town's shopping street. There is no parking at the residence; the city recommends public transport or the castle parking area.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Aichi
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Horibe Family Residence Detached Parlor
- [ Nagoya Castle & Atsuta Shrine History Tours ]
Q&A
- Can I go inside the Horibe Family Residence Detached Parlor, and what does it cost?
- Yes. The parlor is one of the rooms regularly open at the Former Horibe Residence, free of charge, noon to 6:00 p.m., closed Mondays, Tuesdays, and December 28 to January 4. Morning visits require a reservation.
- When was the Horibe Family Residence Detached Parlor built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the Taishō era, 1912 to 1925, which makes it the newest of the six registered buildings on the site. It was registered on March 27, 2006.
- What rooms are in the Horibe Family Residence Detached Parlor?
- An eight-mat formal room with a tokonoma alcove and shelves, and a seven-mat anteroom with a built-in closet. A glazed veranda runs along the west and south sides.
- Why is the Horibe Family Residence Detached Parlor called modern Japanese-style architecture?
- Its room plan follows Edo-period reception rooms, but the veranda uses glass shōji and a glass transom instead of paper, a combination typical of Japanese houses built in the early 20th century.
- How do I get to the Horibe Family Residence Detached Parlor?
- Walk about 10 minutes from Inuyama Station or Inuyama-guchi Station on the Meitetsu line. Inuyama Station is about 25 minutes from Meitetsu Nagoya Station. The residence has no parking.
Basic Information
| Name | Horibe Family Residence Detached Parlor (堀部家住宅離座敷) |
|---|---|
| Location | 272 Minami-koken, Inuyama, Inuyama City, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered March 27, 2006 (Heisei 18) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Wooden single-story, tiled roof, building area 50 square meters; 8-mat and 7-mat rooms |
| Owner | Inuyama City |
| Public Access | Open free of charge, noon to 6:00 p.m.; closed Mondays, Tuesdays, and December 28 to January 4 |
References
- National Database of Designated Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Horibe Family Residence Detached Parlor
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00005468
- Inuyama City: Facility Guide, Former Horibe Residence
- https://www.city.inuyama.aichi.jp/shisetsu/koukyoshisetsu/1001550/1006914.html
- Inuyama City: About the Former Horibe Residence
- https://www.city.inuyama.aichi.jp/kurashi/bunka/1001052/1003549/1001062.html
- Kinoshita Castle Heritage Hall and Horibe Residence (operator's official site)
- https://horibetei.com/sample-page/
- Inuyama Tourist Navi (Inuyama Tourism Association): Former Horibe Residence
- https://inuyama.gr.jp/experience/detail/7/
Last verified: 2026.09.02