An Outbuilding That Outlived Its Street
The Meiji Village Kobe Yamate Western Residence Annex (明治村神戸山手西洋人住居付属屋, Meijimura Kōbe Yamate Seiyōjin Jūkyo Fuzokuya) is a two-storey timber outbuilding at the Meiji Mura Museum in Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture, raised on the Yamate slopes of Kobe between 1887 and 1896 and entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2003.
It never stood alone. The annex belonged to a compact foreign residence on Yamamoto-dōri, in what was then Ikuta Ward and is now Chūō Ward, one of the hillside streets where merchants trading through the open port of Kobe built their houses. The main house faced the road; the annex sat behind it across a narrow service lane, close enough to reach by a covered bridge on the upper floor and far enough to keep the two households apart.
The record of who lived there is patchy but specific. Meiji Mura states that the house was built for a foreign resident, passed in 1896 to a Japanese owner named Masuda Shūsuke, then returned to foreign hands and was occupied by a French trader, Fernand Blum. The buildings came down in 1966 and were re-erected at the museum in 1969, where the Meiji Village Kobe Yamate Western Residence Annex now stands on plot 32 in the third district of the grounds.
Sources differ slightly on the date of construction. The Agency for Cultural Affairs assigns the annex to the 1887 to 1896 range, while Meiji Mura gives approximately 1887 for the residence as a whole.
Why It Was Registered
Registration came on 1 December 2003, in the thirty-ninth round of listings, under registry number 23-0088. The criterion applied recognises the building as a model of design. The Meiji Village Kobe Yamate Western Residence Annex is not an Important Cultural Property. The register for tangible properties is a lighter instrument, created in 1996, that records buildings worth keeping rather than placing them under the stricter designation system.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes the structure as two storeys of timber with a hipped yosemune-zukuri roof in sangawara-buki pantiles, a building area of 36 square meters, and a second-floor connecting corridor. Outside, the walls are clad in shitami-itabari weatherboarding with pilaster forms picked out in the boarding.
What earned the listing is the interior. Kobe's foreign houses of this period commonly paired a Western-planned main house with an annex whose rooms were laid out in Japanese fashion, and Meiji Mura describes this combination as characteristic of the type. The main house carries the verandas, the shutters and the fireplace. The annex carries the tatami, the alcove and the servants. Both halves survive here, and the annex is the half that usually disappears.
What to Look For
Start with what is missing. The Meiji Village Kobe Yamate Western Residence Annex has no staircase inside it. The ground floor holds a doma of beaten earth and a six-mat Japanese room, used by the household staff as a work space and living quarters. The upper floor holds a ten-mat principal room with a tokonoma alcove and a three-mat anteroom, with an engawa veranda along the left side of the main room. Nothing connects the two floors within the building.
The only way up is a short corridor from the middle hallway on the second floor of the main house. Halfway along it, a waist-high window looks down into the lane between the buildings. The Aichi prefectural cultural property record notes this arrangement plainly: the upper room of the annex is reached from the main house and from nowhere else, which kept the circulation of the family and the circulation of the staff on the ground floor separate.
Upstairs, the finish is finer than the plan suggests. The alcove has a flat shoin writing bay, the transom above it carries a fine diamond lattice, and a round window opens in the wall. Meiji Mura reads the room as having the manner of sukiya-zukuri teahouse work, which is a considerable thing to find above a servants' kitchen.
Then step back and look at the two buildings together. The gap between them is deliberate and narrow. The bridge crossing it is slight. Much of the charm of the Meiji Village Kobe Yamate Western Residence Annex lies in how little was spent on connecting it to the house it served.
Visiting
The Meiji Village Kobe Yamate Western Residence Annex stands within the paid area of the Meiji Mura Museum, in the third district of the grounds, and cannot be visited separately. Admission to the museum is 2,500 yen for adults, 1,500 yen for high school students and 700 yen for junior high and elementary school students, with preschool children admitted free. Prices were checked on 3 September 2026.
Opening hours shift with the season. The museum runs 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. from April through July and again in September and October, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in August, 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in November with Saturdays and holidays extended to 5:00 p.m., 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. from December through February, and 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in March. Last admission is 30 minutes before closing. Closing days are scattered through the calendar rather than fixed to one weekday, so check the schedule before travelling.
The exterior can be seen at any time during opening hours. The interior of the residence is normally closed. Meiji Mura runs a volunteer guide programme that takes visitors inside the Kobe residence, though it is suspended during some periods, and confirming its status on the museum website before you travel is worth the minute it takes.
Personal photography needs no permission. Tripods and monopods may not be used inside buildings or near their entrances and in narrow passages, and prolonged shooting inside a building is not allowed. Commercial photography requires an application filed at least two weeks ahead.
Reaching the museum takes about 20 minutes by Gifu Bus from the east exit of Meitetsu Inuyama Station. Direct buses also run from Nagoya Station and Sakae. Drivers come 3 km from the Komaki-higashi interchange on the Chūō Expressway; parking costs 1,000 yen for a standard car.
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Q&A
- Can I go inside the Meiji Village Kobe Yamate Western Residence Annex?
- Not on your own. The interior of the Kobe residence is normally closed, and the annex has no entrance of its own to its upper floor. Meiji Mura offers a volunteer-led guide that takes visitors inside, but it pauses for some periods of the year, so check the museum website first.
- When was the Meiji Village Kobe Yamate Western Residence Annex built and when did it move to Inuyama?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it between 1887 and 1896; Meiji Mura gives around 1887 for the residence as a whole. It was taken down in Kobe in 1966 and rebuilt at the museum in 1969.
- Is the Meiji Village Kobe Yamate Western Residence Annex an Important Cultural Property?
- No. It is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, entered on the national register on 1 December 2003 under registry number 23-0088. Registration and designation are separate systems, and this building falls under the former.
- Where in Meiji Mura is the Kobe Yamate Western Residence Annex, and how do I get to the museum?
- It stands at plot 32 in the third district, directly behind the main house of the same residence. The museum is about 20 minutes by Gifu Bus from the east exit of Meitetsu Inuyama Station, with direct buses also running from Nagoya Station and Sakae.
- Can I photograph the Meiji Village Kobe Yamate Western Residence Annex?
- Yes, for personal use, with no permit needed. Tripods and monopods are barred inside buildings and near entrances and narrow passages. Photography for advertising or sale requires prior application to the museum.
Basic Information
| Name | Meiji Village Kobe Yamate Western Residence Annex |
|---|---|
| Location | Meiji Mura Museum, 1 Uchiyama, Inuyama, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structures) |
| Year Designated | 2003 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 36 square meters |
| Owner | Meiji Mura Public Interest Foundation |
| Public Access | Exterior open to view; interior normally closed |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00003675
- Cultural Heritage Online
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/150285
- Aichi Prefecture, Cultural Property Navi Aichi
- https://jmapps.ne.jp/aichi_bunkazai/det.html?data_id=1900
- Meiji Mura Museum, Kobe Yamate Western Residence
- https://www.meijimura.com/sight/%E7%A5%9E%E6%88%B8%E5%B1%B1%E6%89%8B%E8%A5%BF%E6%B4%8B%E4%BA%BA%E4%BD%8F%E5%B1%85/
- Meiji Mura Museum, Opening Hours and Closing Days
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/open/
- Meiji Mura Museum, Admission and Tickets
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/price/
- Meiji Mura Museum, Access
- https://www.meijimura.com/guide/access/
Last verified: 2026.09.03