Matabei (former Sakagami Family Residence)

A Gassho-Style Farmhouse at Atsuta Shrine

Matabei (former Sakagami Family Residence) (又兵衛（旧坂上家住宅）) is a gassho-zukuri farmhouse from northeastern Hida moved to the grounds of Atsuta Jingu in Jingu, Atsuta Ward, Nagoya City, Aichi Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on April 24, 2001, under registration number 23-0054.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the mid-Edo period and records that it was moved in 1936 and 1957. It is a single-storey timber building with a thatched roof (temporarily covered in sheet metal) and a building area of 124 square metres. Atsuta Jingu describes it as an early Edo building said to be the prototype of gassho-zukuri, so the dating differs between the two.

Why It Was Registered

Matabei was registered as difficult to reproduce. According to the Agency, it has a hip-and-gable roof entered on the long side and a hiroma-type plan, with the stable (maya) and earth-floored work area at the lower end and, at the upper end, the dei and chouda rooms front and back on either side of the Buddhist altar room.

The Agency notes that its structure, including forked posts, places it among the oldest surviving gassho-zukuri farmhouses, and that its relocation under the guidance of the architectural historian Kido Hisashi was one of the earliest cases of preserving a farmhouse by moving it.

What to Look For

Look for the forked posts in the structure, which the Agency cites as evidence that the house belongs among the oldest surviving gassho-zukuri farmhouses.

According to Atsuta Jingu, Matabei is now used as a tea house. The shrine has five other tea rooms, used for the monthly tea offering on the 15th (except August) and various tea gatherings. Matabei was dismantled and repaired in 2001 and 2002 and remodelled in 2012.

Visiting

Matabei stands in the grounds of Atsuta Jingu and is used for tea gatherings. No official information was found on visiting the interior, so check with Atsuta Jingu about tea events. The shrine is at 1-1-1 Jingu, Atsuta Ward, Nagoya.