A brewer's townhouse on the old Tōkaidō
Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Main House (西駒屋田村家住宅主屋, Nishikomaya Tamura-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is a late-Meiji Machiya townhouse in Futagawacho, Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture, registered as a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2014. It faces south onto the old Tōkaidō, the highway that once joined Edo and Kyoto, in the district that formed Futagawa-juku, the thirty-third post station out of Edo.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs places construction in the later Meiji era, between 1898 and 1912, and records that the household ran a brewing business here. The agency files the house under secondary industry rather than under dwellings. That small clerical choice says what the building was: a place of work with a family living in it.
Behind the street front, the raised-floor rooms of the Nishikomaya main house are arranged in two rows of three. The eastern row runs Mise (the shop), Nakanoma (the middle room) and Daidokoro (the kitchen); the western row holds Okumise (the inner shop), Butsuma (the room for the household altar) and Okunoma (the innermost room). Six rooms in all, set out so that trade met the road and family life receded toward the back.
A separate earthen-walled storehouse belonging to the same property, Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Storehouse, stands north of the main house and holds its own entry on the national register.
Why the house was registered, and what the city added
Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Main House entered the national register in 2014 under the criterion for buildings that contribute to the historic scenery of the country. Its registration number is 23-0412, recorded in the 78th round of registrations. The agency's commentary sums the building up as a townhouse that gives the post station its air of the past.
In 2024 Toyohashi City layered its own protection on top. The city named Nishikomaya its sixth Landscape Important Building under the Landscape Act, a designation that takes in three structures: the main house, the gate, and a detached wing that doubles as a warehouse. The city's notice describes a merchant house where brewing went on from the late Meiji period until recent years, now used as the home of the founding family. One of the city's own criteria for the designation is that a building can be seen without difficulty from a road or other public place, which is exactly how most people will meet this house.
The two lists do not overlap completely. The national register covers the main house and the storehouse; the city designation covers the main house, the gate and the detached wing. Only the main house of the Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence appears on both.
What to look for from the road
Stand on the south side of the old Tōkaidō and the front of Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Main House reads as a single long eaves line. The roof is Kirizuma-zukuri, a plain gable, covered in Sangawara-buki pantiles and entered on the long side in the Hirairi manner. Toyohashi's landscape notice singles out this gabled, eaves-side-entry silhouette as the defining shape of the Futagawa street front, and the Nishikomaya house is one of the clearest examples still standing.
Look next at the lattice. A projecting latticed bay, the degōshi, stands out from the front of the raised-floor rooms, screening the shop from the street while letting light and air through. Above it the eaves are carried on projecting beams in the degeta-zukuri manner, at both the upper and the lower level, so that the roof and the intermediate eaves both step forward over the road. Where the family's brewing sheds once stood is not visible from the street, but the depth of the site behind the main house can be guessed from the storehouse roof to the north.
One point on which the records disagree deserves a note. The national register describes the structure as a single-storied wooden building, while the city's landscape notice describes it as two-storied, and the register's own commentary mentions eaves at both an upper and a lower level. Anyone standing in front of the house will see a façade with two tiers of eaves; how the upper level is counted is a matter the two records have not reconciled.
Visiting Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Main House
Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Main House is a private home and is not open to the public. There are no opening hours, no admission charge and no interior tours. What a visitor can do is walk the old Tōkaidō, which passes directly in front of the house, and take in the façade from the public road. The grounds are private, so please do not step through the gate or into the passage beside the house.
Photographing the exterior from the road is straightforward. Because people live here, keep the camera on the architecture rather than on windows or the interior, and avoid blocking the narrow highway, which still carries local traffic.
Access is by rail to Futagawa Station on the JR Tōkaidō Main Line. From the north exit, follow the old highway east for about 1.1 kilometers, roughly 15 minutes on foot. The Futagawa-juku Honjin Museum, which occupies the former daimyō inn and its neighbouring travellers' inn, stands across the road on the south side, so the Nishikomaya house is easy to place: it is the gabled brewery townhouse directly opposite the museum's frontage. Anyone who wants to step inside a Tamura family building can continue east along the same road to the city-owned merchant house Komaya, which is open to visitors; the Nishikomaya house itself remains a lived-in home.
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Q&A
- Can I go inside Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Main House?
- No. Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Main House is a private residence with no public opening, admission or interior tours. The exterior can be viewed from the old Tōkaidō in front of the house.
- How do I get to Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Main House from the nearest station?
- Take the JR Tōkaidō Main Line to Futagawa Station. From the north exit, walk east along the old Tōkaidō for about 1.1 kilometers, roughly 15 minutes. The house stands on the north side of the road, opposite the Futagawa-juku Honjin Museum.
- When was Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Main House built, and when was it registered?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the late Meiji era, between 1898 and 1912. It was registered as a national Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2014, and Toyohashi City designated it a Landscape Important Building in 2024.
- What should I look for on the outside of Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Main House?
- The gabled pantile roof entered on the long side, the projecting lattice bay on the front of the raised-floor rooms, and the eaves carried on projecting beams at both the upper and lower level. Together they make up the typical Futagawa street frontage.
- Is photography allowed at Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Main House?
- Exterior photographs from the public road are fine. The house is a family home, so avoid pointing the camera at windows or interiors, do not enter the grounds, and take care not to obstruct traffic on the narrow old highway.
Basic Information
| Name | Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Main House |
|---|---|
| Location | 147-1 Nakamachi, Futagawacho, Toyohashi City, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2014 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 195 square meters; tiled roof |
| Owner | Private individual |
| Public Access | Not open to the public; exterior only, from the old Tōkaidō |
References
- National Cultural Heritage Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00010164
- National Cultural Heritage Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Storehouse
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00010165
- Cultural Heritage Online: Nishikomaya Tamura Family Residence Main House
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/210087
- Toyohashi City: Landscape Important Buildings and Trees
- https://www.city.toyohashi.lg.jp/45850.htm
- Toyohashi City: Futagawa-juku Landscape Formation District
- https://www.city.toyohashi.lg.jp/45844.htm
- Toyohashi City: Futagawa-juku (Toyohashi Web Encyclopedia)
- https://www.city.toyohashi.lg.jp/33980.htm
Last verified: 2026.09.02