Enomoto Family Residence Annex

What Is the Enomoto Family Residence Annex?

The Enomoto Family Residence Annex (榎本家住宅離れ, Enomoto-ke Jūtaku Hanare) is a single-storey suite of reception rooms on the west side of the Enomoto family's main house in Fusa, Abiko City, Chiba Prefecture; thought to date from the middle of the Meiji era, between 1883 and 1897, it became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 3 December 2024.

The Annex has a building area of 55 square meters. No inscription records its date; Abiko City's press release explains that it was placed in mid Meiji on the evidence of its construction. According to the Agency for Cultural Affairs, it was relocated around 1958 along with the main house when the Tone River levee was widened, so one of the older buildings on the estate was rolled to its present spot with its finely fitted rooms intact.

A Low Wing Joined to the Main House

The Enomoto Family Residence Annex runs east to west under a hipped Yosemune-zukuri roof of Sangawara-buki pan tiles, partly clad in Dōban-buki copper. Its southeast corner meets the main house, so despite the name hanare, which literally means "detached," it works as a reception wing used together with the family's living quarters.

Inside are 2 Zashiki rooms in a row from east to west. A veranda wraps the west and south sides, opening the rooms to the garden in two directions. At the veranda edge lies a large stepping-off stone, and from it a line of stepping stones leads into a front garden set with rocks and stone lanterns, so the eye moves easily between room and garden.

The West Room: Alcove and Writing Bay

The more formal of the two rooms is the west one. Its north wall holds the alcove, and beside it on the west is a Tsukeshoin, a shallow built-in writing bay with a window, originally a reading desk that became a standard piece of formal room decoration. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database includes a photograph of this 8-mat west room taken from the south.

On the horizontal Nageshi rails, the nail heads are hidden under decorative metal covers shaped as cranes and turtles, the classic Japanese pairing for long life. Fittings like these, called kugikakushi, are one of the places where a household showed its taste.

A Transom of Waves and Waterbirds

The piece to find in the Enomoto Family Residence Annex is the Ranma transom between the two rooms. It is carved in Sukashibori openwork to show waves and waterbirds, and with light coming from the next room the design reads almost like a shadow picture.

It is tempting to link the water motif to a family whose fortune came from river transport on the Tone. No source consulted for this article records why the design was chosen, however, so the connection remains a guess. The Agency cites the crane and turtle covers and the openwork transom in calling the Annex a richly decorated building.

Why It Was Registered

The Enomoto Family Residence Annex was registered under number 12-0329 as a model of fine design. On this estate only the Annex and the north storehouse were registered on that basis, which suggests how highly the design of its rooms was rated.

Visiting

The Enomoto Family Residence Annex is part of a private home, and neither the rooms nor the garden are open to the public. It stands deep inside the grounds, west of the main house, so there is currently no way to see the transom or the metal fittings in person.

An exterior view and a photograph of the 8-mat west room can be found in the Agency for Cultural Affairs database and on Cultural Heritage Online. Please do not enter the property.