Moricho Ryokan Annex
The Moricho Ryokan Annex (森長旅館離れ) is a two-storey timber guest wing of 1949 in Funakawaminato, Oga City, Akita Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) on February 9, 2005 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The Agency records it as built in 1949, a timber structure of 2 storeys with a sheet-metal roof and a building area of 79 square metres; registration number 05-0114.
Where the Main Building is Western in dress, the Annex is plainly Japanese, clad in overlapping weatherboards, and added southeast of the Main Building in the years just after the war. Today it is the inn's suite.
Structure and Layout
The Moricho Ryokan Annex stands southeast of the Main Building and is reached from a service wing of the Main Building by a bridge corridor at second-floor level. It has a hipped roof in sheet metal and walls of overlapping horizontal weatherboards (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
The ground floor is a storeroom; the guest rooms are upstairs. There are two of them, a 10-mat and an 8-mat room, each with a tokonoma alcove. Along the north side an added eave covers a corridor one ken wide, with a railed open veranda, an engawa, outside it (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Lifting the rooms to the upper floor and giving the ground floor to storage probably bought quiet and a view over the garden on a tight plot. Reached by a bridge rather than a door off the main corridor, the rooms live up to the name hanare, which means simply "set apart".
Why It Was Registered
The Moricho Ryokan Annex was registered on February 9, 2005, together with the Main Building and the Storehouse, under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country.
Where the Main Building presents a Western face to the street, the Annex is a Japanese wing of formal rooms, hipped and weatherboarded, with two alcove rooms and a railed corridor. The Agency's record of its bridge link to the Main Building and its upstairs guest rooms makes it the piece that shows how the inn grew after the war.
What to Look For
The two alcoves upstairs and the north corridor with its veranda are the parts to notice. From the railed engawa you look down into the garden enclosed by the Main Building and the Storehouse.
According to the inn, the Annex is now a single suite, the Suite Room Twin HANARE, of 60 square metres: two connected rooms with old-style ranma transoms and a view over the garden, a private kitchen, and space for up to 4 guests.
On the ground floor is a tiled cooking range of the old kamado type, where guests can book a session cooking rice in an iron pot over firewood (official website). The inn does not say how old the range is.
Visiting
Because the Moricho Ryokan Annex is a single guest room, only guests booked into it can see the interior. The upstairs lounge linking the Main Building and the Annex is a shared space for overnight guests, and from there you can see where the bridge corridor begins (official website).
From the street the Annex is mostly hidden behind the Main Building and the Storehouse. No official arrangement for viewing the building alone was found.
Q&A
- Can you go inside the Moricho Ryokan Annex?
- Only as a guest in it: the Annex is used as a single suite, the Suite Room Twin HANARE (official website). There is no official arrangement for viewing the building alone.
- When was the Moricho Ryokan Annex built?
- In 1949, as a two-storey timber wing added after the Main Building of 1934 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- What are the rooms like in the Moricho Ryokan Annex?
- Upstairs there are two tatami rooms of 10 and 8 mats, each with a tokonoma alcove, plus a corridor one ken wide on the north side with a railed veranda (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Today they form a two-room suite.
- Is the Moricho Ryokan Annex connected to the Main Building?
- Yes, by a bridge corridor at second-floor level from a service wing of the Main Building (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
- When was the Moricho Ryokan Annex registered?
- On February 9, 2005 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).
Basic Information
| Name | Moricho Ryokan Annex (森長旅館離れ) |
|---|---|
| Location | 82 Sakaemachi, Funakawa, Funakawaminato, Oga City, Akita Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2005/2/9 (Heisei 17) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, 2 storeys, sheet-metal roof; building area 79 square metres |
| Owner | Chuo Kenso Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Used as a single guest suite; interior open only to guests staying in it. No arrangement for viewing the building alone |
References
- Moricho Ryokan Annex (Database of National Cultural Properties, Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00004495
- Rooms (Moricho Ryokan official website, Japanese)
- https://morichoryokan.com/room/
- Facilities Guide (Moricho Ryokan official website, Japanese)
- https://morichoryokan.com/guide/
Last verified: 2026.10.28
