An earth-floored link between buildings
The Kamiya Family Residence Connecting Passage (神谷家住宅渡り, Kamiya-ke Jūtaku Watari) is a single-storey timber structure of around 1905 in Izumicho, Anjo City, Aichi Prefecture, registered as a National Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 18 April 2008. It runs 13 metres by 1.8 metres, 23 square metres in floor area, continuing west from the plastering and charcoal rooms and joining the rice storehouse at its far end.
The roof is gabled and tiled. On the street side the detailing matches the plastering and charcoal rooms, except that the eaves line is set slightly lower. Same material, same boarding, one adjustment of height.
The courtyard side is an open earth-floored space without walls, used for stacking goods. The Kamiya Family Residence Connecting Passage carries registration number 23-0292.
Holding the southern side together
The registration criterion is contribution to the historic landscape of Japan. This is not a building that carries an estate on its own. Its role is to keep the southern range unbroken from the main gate westwards.
From east to west: the main gate, the plastering and charcoal rooms, this passage, and the rice storehouse. 14 metres of gate, then the workrooms, then 13 metres of passage, then 11 metres of storehouse. The southern face of the estate is constructed as one continuous wall out of those four.
The passage and the plastering rooms both date from about 1905, and the main gate from 1905 exactly. The dates show that the southern side was laid out in a single campaign rather than accumulating over decades.
What to look for
The lowered eaves line is the detail to catch. Matching the neighbouring building in every other respect and then dropping the eaves a little produces continuity with a slight step in it, rather than flat repetition. Across 13 metres of otherwise uniform elevation, that one move supplies the modulation.
The open earth floor on the courtyard side is the second point. No walls, only roof and posts. Goods could be set down there and people passed through, so it worked as circulation within the estate. The name, watari, meaning a crossing or a link, describes exactly that.
The depth of 1.8 metres is the same as the kettle house on the eastern boundary. Long narrow structures placed along the perimeter, so that buildings themselves form the enclosure: the Kamiya Family Residence Connecting Passage shows that the idea was applied on the southern side as consistently as on the east.
Visiting and access
The interior is part of a private home and is closed to visitors. Since the building faces the road on the southern boundary, its outer wall and roof can be seen from the public street; the open earth-floored side, turned inward, cannot. Photograph from the road rather than through the gate. The City of Anjo asks visitors to remember that most local historic buildings 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. Buses are infrequent, so check the timetable first. Seven minutes' walk 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, last entry 16:30, closed Mondays with the following day substituted for a national holiday, and over the new year.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Aichi
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Kamiya Family Residence Connecting Passage
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Q&A
- Can the Kamiya Family Residence Connecting Passage be seen?
- The interior is private, but the building faces the road on the southern boundary, so its outer wall and roof are visible from the public street.
- How large is it?
- 13 metres by 1.8 metres, 23 square metres of floor area, single-storey timber with a gabled tiled roof.
- What does watari mean here?
- A long narrow structure linking two buildings. On this estate it joins the plastering and charcoal rooms to the rice storehouse, with an open earth floor on the courtyard side used for stacking goods.
- Why are the eaves set lower than the neighbouring building?
- The detailing otherwise matches the plastering and charcoal rooms. Dropping the eaves slightly introduces a step into the long southern elevation.
- When was it registered?
- On 18 April 2008, under number 23-0292, together with thirteen other buildings on the estate.
Basic Information
| Name | Kamiya Family Residence Connecting Passage (神谷家住宅渡り) |
|---|---|
| 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 13 m, depth 1.8 m, floor area 23 square metres |
| 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 Connecting Passage
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00007041
- Cultural Heritage Online: Kamiya Family Residence Connecting Passage
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/186943
- 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