A House and a Store Joined in an L
The Kuzuri Woolen Industry Main House is a dwelling in Tamanoi, Kisogawa-cho, Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture, built around 1949 and entered on the national list of Registered Tangible Cultural Property (buildings) on 17 August 2020. It stands two storeys high in timber under a hipped roof of clay pantiles, with a floor area of 186 square metres, on the east side of the gate and facing the office across the yard.
The plan forms an L. The long east-west wing is the residence; the wing turning north from it is a store, so two functions sit under one continuous roof. Walls are boarded and painted, except on the lower lean-to, where the posts are left exposed in the Japanese manner, the panels between them plastered white and the base clad in vertical boards. One building thus carries a Western board wall above and a Japanese plastered wall below.
When it was built, the southern part housed the mill owner's family and the northern part served as a dormitory for women workers. Today the ground floor of the north wing is used for storage and the rest remains a home. The Kuzuri Woolen Industry Main House preserves the layout of a time when working and living were not separated.
The Live-and-Work Compound
What earned this site its place on the register is the survival of a complete set: mill, office, house, dormitory, bathhouse and stores, all within one wall. The criterion applied was contribution to the historic landscape, and nine buildings were listed together on 17 August 2020. The main house carries registration number 23-0551.
Workers living on the premises while the owner's family occupied the same plot was an ordinary arrangement among small weaving firms after the war. Complete groups of such buildings are now rare. Within this compound the Kuzuri Woolen Industry Main House marks the joint between home and workplace: living quarters to the south, goods to the north, the office and the mill a few steps west.
The construction date of about 1949 falls in the years when wartime controls eased and the Bishu weaving district started up again. Two sawtooth bays had been added to the mill around 1945; the domestic side of the compound was rebuilt soon afterwards.
Reading the Walls
Step through the gate and the south elevation of the house is directly ahead. Above eye level the wall is painted board; below the lean-to eaves it turns to white plaster with a vertical boarded base. Protecting the splash zone with timber and finishing the upper wall differently was a practical decision, and it gives the elevation its horizontal division.
Stand at the inner corner of the L, facing north-west, and the junction between the two wings is clear. Where the roofs meet at right angles the valley is awkward to drain, and the tiling there has been carefully worked.
At 186 square metres this is the second largest building on the site after the mill. The figure sounds modest, but the two storeys and the attached store give it real presence once you are inside the gate.
Visiting
The Kuzuri Woolen Industry Main House is a private home and its interior is not open. The official Aichi Prefecture tourism site notes that the company will sometimes accept visitors to the production areas by prior arrangement, and such a visit brings you close to the exterior. Telephone 0586-87-3323 at least two weeks ahead. Groups of two or three up to about ten are accepted, larger parties need discussion, and Saturdays and Sundays are non-working days. Checked on 31 August 2026.
No published photography policy could be found. Because people live here, ask before photographing even the outside.
Tamanoi Station on the Meitetsu Bisai Line is about a two-minute walk. By car, allow about 15 minutes from the Ichinomiya-nishi exit of the Tokai-Hokuriku Expressway or about 25 minutes from the Ichinomiya interchange of the Meishin Expressway. From the road at the gate you can see the paired arrangement: the house on the right, the office on the left.
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Q&A
- Can I see inside the Kuzuri Woolen Industry Main House?
- No. It is still a private residence. If the company accepts your request for a site visit, made by telephone on 0586-87-3323 at least two weeks in advance, you can view the exterior at close range.
- What kind of building is the Kuzuri Woolen Industry Main House?
- A two-storey timber house of about 1949 with a hipped tiled roof and a floor area of 186 square metres, in which an east-west residential wing joins a north-south store in an L-shaped plan.
- How was the building used originally?
- The southern part housed the mill owner's family and the northern part served as a dormitory for women workers. The ground floor of the north wing is now used for storage.
- When was the Kuzuri Woolen Industry Main House registered?
- On 17 August 2020, as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), registration number 23-0551, alongside eight other buildings on the site.
- How do I get there?
- Tamanoi Station on the Meitetsu Bisai Line is about two minutes away on foot, and the site is roughly 15 minutes by car from the Ichinomiya-nishi expressway exit.
Basic Information
| Name | Kuzuri Woolen Industry Main House |
|---|---|
| Location | 1 Miyamae, Tamanoi, Kisogawa-cho, Ichinomiya, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2020 |
| Quantity | 1 structure |
| Dimensions | 2-storey timber structure, tiled roof, floor area 186 square metres |
| Owner | Not disclosed (privately owned) |
| Public Access | Normally closed; visits by prior arrangement |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Kuzuri Woolen Industry Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00013404
- Cultural Heritage Online: Kuzuri Woolen Industry Main House
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/458499
- Ichinomiya City: Cultural Properties in Ichinomiya
- https://www.city.ichinomiya.aichi.jp/katsuryokusouzou/hakubutsukan/1044092/1024202/1036232.html
- Aichi Now, official Aichi Prefecture tourism site: Kuzuri Woolen Industry Co., Ltd.
- https://aichinow.pref.aichi.jp/spots/detail/3024/
- Ichinomiya Tourism Association: Sawtooth Roofs of the Bishu Weaving District, vol. 1
- https://www.138ss.com/feature/detail/11/
Last verified: 2026.08.31