Kiuchi Family Residence

The Kiuchi Family Residence

The Kiuchi Family Residence (木内家住宅, Kiuchi-ke Jūtaku) in Tako, Tako-machi, Katori District, Chiba Prefecture, is a merchant's premises built in stone between 1929 and 1931, and its main house, former storehouse and former shop were registered as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on October 14, 1999 (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

The Agency describes the Kiuchi family as merchants at the heart of Tako, a town that grew up below a castle, who once dealt in rice. The Chiba Prefectural Board of Education presents the site the same way, as the town-house complex of a former rice dealer in the town centre, and gives the owner as a private individual.

The three buildings carry registration numbers 12-0031 (main house), 12-0032 (former storehouse) and 12-0033 (former shop), and all were registered as models of design (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

Three Buildings in a Line from the Street

The Kiuchi Family Residence runs back from the road: the former shop faces the street, the former storehouse adjoins its rear, and the main house stands furthest back (Chiba Prefecture). The Agency likewise places the storehouse between the house at the back of the lot and the shop on the street.

What ties the three together is masonry of Ōya stone paired with Inada stone, a granite quarried around Kasama in Ibaraki Prefecture (Chiba Prefecture). Each building handles the pair differently. The main house rises two full floors in stone under a hipped tile roof; the storehouse, under a gabled copper roof, keeps Inada stone for its openings and window frames; the shop is stone on the ground floor and Japanese-style timber above (Agency for Cultural Affairs).

None of them is large. The building areas are 50 square metres for the main house, 40 square metres for the storehouse and 45 square metres for the shop, each of 2 storeys (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Each building is described in detail on its own page.

When the Kiuchi Family Residence Was Built

The Agency for Cultural Affairs and the Chiba Prefectural Board of Education date the three buildings of the Kiuchi Family Residence to 1929–1931.

Tako Town's visitor magazine, Tako Hakken Magazine, instead says the Kiuchi family of rice dealers built them in 1929. Whether the gap reflects the start and finish of construction or only how each source sums it up has not been confirmed.

Visiting the Kiuchi Family Residence

The Kiuchi Family Residence is privately owned, and no official information on access to the interiors was found. Chiba Kanko Navi, the prefecture's official tourism site, lists it as open every day with no charge; keep the visit to the exteriors seen from the street, and do not enter the property.

Tako has no railway station. By public transport, take the JR Bus Kanto Tako Main Line, which runs from JR Narita Station through Sanrizuka and Tako to JR Yōkaichiba Station (Tako Town). According to Chiba Kanko Navi, the Tako-Nakamachi (多古仲町) stop is about a 1-minute walk away, and there is no parking. By car, allow about 20 minutes from Taiei IC or about 25 minutes from Narita IC on the Higashi-Kantō Expressway.

Enquiries go to the Lifelong Learning Section of Tako Town (0479-76-7811), as listed by Chiba Kanko Navi.