A building pretending to be a wall
The Kamiya Family Residence Kettle House and Storage Shed (神谷家住宅釜屋及び物置, Kamiya-ke Jūtaku Kamaya oyobi Monooki) is an early Meiji single-storey timber building in Izumicho, Anjo City, Aichi Prefecture, registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 18 April 2008. It runs 14 metres along the eastern edge of the compound, north of the Yokoya wing, and is only 1.8 metres deep, with a floor area of 13 square metres and an attached fence.
The tiled roof is of the offset-ridge type, one slope carried further down than the other. The interior divides into three: 3.5 metres of storage at each end, and 7 metres between them serving as the kettle house. That central section is open along its west side, facing into the compound.
The Kamiya Family Residence Kettle House and Storage Shed carries registration number 23-0299, and was extended in the early Showa period.
Building the eastern face of the estate
The registration criterion is contribution to the historic landscape of Japan, and here the contribution is made by one side of the building only. The street elevation is clad in black-painted horizontal boards held by vertical battens, and together with the roofline it was deliberately composed to read as a tall fence rather than as a shed.
A structure that behaves as a wall: that double identity is the point of this building. Along the eastern boundary of the estate, the main gate, the grain storehouse, the Yokoya wing and the Kamiya Family Residence Kettle House and Storage Shed all present the same dark boarding to the road. The result is an unbroken wall of black timber running the length of a street in Izumicho.
What to look for
This is a building to read in numbers. Fourteen metres long against 1.8 metres deep is a ratio of roughly eight to one. Into a space barely wide enough for two people to pass, two distinct functions have been fitted.
The kettle house was where water was boiled and food cooked. Because fire was involved, the west side was left open so that smoke could escape and heat would not build up. Open to the household, closed to the street: the arrangement of the Kamiya Family Residence Kettle House and Storage Shed answers a safety problem and a question of appearance at the same time.
The roof deserves a moment as well. Shifting the ridge off centre and lengthening one slope gives a long low building a change of height it would not otherwise have, and it keeps the elevation from flattening out into a single monotonous band.
Visiting and access
The Kamiya Family Residence Kettle House and Storage Shed is part of a private home and the interior is not open. Its street elevation, however, forms part of the eastern boundary of the compound, so that face can be seen from the public road. The open kettle house side, turned inward, cannot. Photograph from the street and not through the gate. The City of Anjo asks visitors to local historic buildings to respect the fact that most are privately owned.
Take the JR Tokaido Line to Anjo or Mikawa-Anjo Station, then the city Ankuru bus on the Nanbu line to Kaminokiri or Izumi Jozanen. Services are limited, so confirm the timetable first. Seven minutes on foot to the south is Jozanen, a garden and study hall built by the city on the birthplace of the early Edo poet Ishikawa Jozan. Open 9:00 to 17:00 with last entry at 16:30, closed Mondays, with the following day substituted when a Monday is a national holiday, and over the new year period.
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- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Kamiya Family Residence Kettle House and Storage Shed
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Q&A
- Can the Kamiya Family Residence Kettle House and Storage Shed be seen?
- The interior is private, but because the building forms part of the eastern boundary its black-boarded street elevation is visible from the public road.
- What shape is this building?
- Long and narrow: 14 metres across the front, 1.8 metres deep, 13 square metres of floor area, under a tiled roof with an offset ridge.
- What is a kamaya, or kettle house?
- A space for boiling water and cooking over a fire. Here the central 7 metres form the kettle house, open on the west side so heat and smoke can escape.
- Why does the building look like a fence from outside?
- Its street wall was finished in black-painted board cladding and composed with the roof so as to read as a high fence, giving the estate a unified eastern face.
- When was it registered?
- On 18 April 2008, under number 23-0299, in the same batch as thirteen other buildings on the estate.
Basic Information
| Name | Kamiya Family Residence Kettle House and Storage Shed (神谷家住宅釜屋及び物置) |
|---|---|
| Location | 13 Kaminokiri, Izumicho, Anjo City, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | 2008 (Heisei 20), registered |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Frontage 14 m, depth 1.8 m, floor area 13 square metres, with attached fence |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Not open to the public; street elevation visible from the public road |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Kamiya Family Residence Kettle House and Storage Shed
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00007048
- Cultural Heritage Online: Kamiya Family Residence Kettle House and Storage Shed
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/191770
- City of Anjo: Historic Buildings
- https://www.city.anjo.aichi.jp/shisei/shisetsu/kyoikushisetsu/maibun-structure.html
- Anjo City Cultural Properties Catalogue: Kamiya Family Residence Main House
- https://www.katch.ne.jp/~anjomuse/bunkazai_zuroku/kamiyake_jyuutaku/index.html
- City of Anjo: Jozanen Garden
- https://www.city.anjo.aichi.jp/shisei/shisetsu/kyoikushisetsu/jozanen.html
Last verified: 2026.08.30