What the Sugiura Family Residence Main House is
The Sugiura Family Residence Main House (杉浦家住宅主屋, Sugiura-ke Jūtaku Omoya) is a late Edo period townhouse in Isshiki, Nishio City, Aichi Prefecture, listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 31 October 2022.
It faces south in the middle of Isshiki, a town on the shore of Mikawa Bay. The building is timber, 2 storeys, under a Kirizuma-zukuri gable roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles and entered on the long Hirairi side, with a building area of 188 square metres. An earth floor occupies the eastern half and a raised living floor the western half, the arrangement of a large Machiya.
The Sugiura were settled here by the first half of the 18th century. They ran shipping, opened reclaimed rice land, worked salt pans and moved into brewing, and they held an appointment as merchants supplying the Nishio domain. The Main House stood at the centre of that compound. Against its west end sits a single-storey reception wing added in the Meiji era, registered on the same day under its own entry as the Sugiura Family Residence Shoin.
A drawing dated 1849
Registration asks for evidence of when a building went up. For the Sugiura Family Residence Main House that evidence is a sashizu, a drawing of the floor plan, inscribed with the year Kaei 2 (1849). The room layout and the dimensions it records correspond closely to the house still standing, and Nishio City reads the match as showing the building was complete by about that date.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs database gives the construction period as a span, 1830 to 1868, and notes later work around 1921 (Taishō 10) and a repair in 1986 (Shōwa 61). The house has been lived in without interruption, and the record of its alterations survives beside the record of its making.
It carries registration number 23-0583 and belongs to the 103rd round of registrations. The criterion applied was that the building is a model of its form. What the assessment turned on was an unusual pairing: a townhouse standing in the middle of Isshiki, yet laid out to the large farmhouse plan of the surrounding countryside, its raised floor divided into 6 rooms in the regular seikei mutsu-madori arrangement.
Beams above the earth floor, a raised bay at the altar
The Sugiura Family Residence Main House is a private home and closed, so what follows comes from the registration survey and Nishio City's published description rather than from anything a visitor can see.
The eastern half is a doma, an earth floor. Heavy beams cross it in the open with no ceiling to hide them, and lattice doors cut the space front from back, so the street end and the inner end of the same floor do different work.
West of that the floor is raised and divided into 6 rooms. Thick sashigamoi, lintel beams spanning post to post, are used mume: without the grooves usually cut into such a member to take sliding doors. A joisted ceiling runs above both the earth floor and the raised rooms, carrying the upper storey.
Rank shows in the Buddhist altar room. Attached to it is a jōdan, a raised bay forming a chamber for the altar itself. The Agency for Cultural Affairs description closes on that detail, concluding that the house is thereby furnished with formal standing.
Visiting the Sugiura Family Residence Main House
The Sugiura Family Residence Main House cannot be visited. Nishio City states on its cultural property page that the building is a private home and closed to the public. Neither the interior nor the grounds are open, there is no admission desk and no fee, and no special opening has been announced.
A family lives in the house. Do not enter the grounds, do not stop at the gate, and do not point a camera at the house or the people in it. Enquiries about the property are handled by the Cultural Properties Division of the Nishio City Board of Education (telephone 0563-56-2459).
The Isshiki district itself is easy to reach. From Nishio Station on the Meitetsu Nishio Line, a Meitetsu Tobu Kotsu bus on the Isshiki route reaches the Isshiki-chō Kōminkan stop in about 14 minutes, and a library and community hall stand beside it. Anyone wanting to establish where the Sugiura Family Residence Main House sits should ask the city's Cultural Properties Division rather than walk the streets looking for it.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Aichi
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Sugiura Family Residence Main House
- [ Nagoya Castle & Atsuta Shrine History Tours ]
Q&A
- Can the Sugiura Family Residence Main House be visited, and is the interior open?
- No. The Sugiura Family Residence Main House is a private home and is closed. Neither the interior nor the grounds are open, there is no admission desk and no fee, and no special opening has been announced. Please do not enter the grounds or photograph the house or its residents.
- When was the Sugiura Family Residence Main House built?
- A floor-plan drawing inscribed Kaei 2 (1849) records a layout and dimensions that correspond closely to the standing building, so the house was complete by about that date. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database gives the construction period as 1830 to 1868 and records work around 1921 (Taishō 10) and a repair in 1986 (Shōwa 61).
- How large is the Sugiura Family Residence Main House and how is it built?
- It is timber, 2 storeys, with a gable roof of pantiles entered on the long side, and a building area of 188 square metres. The eastern half is an earth floor and the western half a raised floor divided into 6 rooms in a regular six-room plan. The lintel beams are used without grooves.
- When did the Sugiura Family Residence Main House become a Registered Tangible Cultural Property, and on what grounds?
- It was registered on 31 October 2022 under registration number 23-0583, in the 103rd round of registrations. The criterion applied was that the building is a model of its form. The assessment rested on a townhouse in the town centre carrying the large farmhouse plan of the surrounding countryside.
- How do you reach the Isshiki district where the Sugiura Family Residence Main House stands?
- Take a Meitetsu Tobu Kotsu bus on the Isshiki route from Nishio Station on the Meitetsu Nishio Line to the Isshiki-chō Kōminkan stop, about 14 minutes. The house itself is closed, so it cannot be the object of a visit. Enquiries go to the Cultural Properties Division of the Nishio City Board of Education (telephone 0563-56-2459).
Basic Information
| Name | Sugiura Family Residence Main House |
|---|---|
| Location | Isshiki, Isshikicho, Nishio City, Aichi Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered in 2022 (Reiwa 4) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, 2 storeys, tiled roof, building area 188 square metres |
| Owner | Private individual |
| Public Access | Closed. A private home; neither the interior nor the grounds are open |
References
- National Designated Cultural Properties Database, Sugiura Family Residence Main House (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00014392
- Cultural Heritage Online, Sugiura Family Residence Main House
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/547661
- Sugiura Family Residence Main House (Nishio City official website)
- https://www.city.nishio.aichi.jp/sportskanko/bunkazai/1001485/1001611/1011273/1011278.html
- List of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Nishio City official website)
- https://www.city.nishio.aichi.jp/sportskanko/bunkazai/1001485/1001611/1005034.html
- Timetables and fares (Meitetsu Tobu Kotsu)
- https://www.meitetsu-toubukoutsu.com/wpbus/timetable/
Last verified: 2026.09.02