Registered Tangible Cultural Properties · Chiba

Mogi Shichiroemon Family Residence Shoin

Mogi Shichiroemon Family Residence Shoin: 1905 Reception Wing in Noda

A 1905 reception wing on a Noda soy brewer's estate, with three rooms, openwork transoms and a chandelier, enclosed by 4.4-metre walls. Registered 2018; not open.

Designation Registered Tangible Cultural Properties

Location Chiba

A Wing Built for Guests

The Mogi Shichiroemon Family Residence Shoin (茂木七郎右衛門家住宅書院) in Noda, Chiba Prefecture, is a single-storey timber reception wing built in 1905 on the estate of a soy sauce brewing family, and it was entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 27 March 2018. It covers 144 square metres under a tiled Yosemune-zukuri hipped roof and was renovated in 1995.

You reach it along a covered corridor from the east end of the main house's north side. The wing is long and narrow, running east to west, with lean-to Geya roofs on the south and east. A veranda wraps the front and side, closed with glazed doors. The main house was where the family lived; the shoin was where they received and entertained.

Three Rooms in a Row

Inside, three rooms line up from the east, the senior end: an upper room of 15 mats, a middle room of 15 mats and a study of 9 mats. Open the partitions between the first two and you have a hall of 30 mats; the smaller room at the far end serves as the quieter study.

The Agency for Cultural Affairs points to three features. There are the formal alcove fittings, the Sukashibori openwork Ranma transoms set between the rooms, and a chandelier. A Western light fitting hanging over tatami is exactly the kind of pairing wealthy merchant households made as new goods reached them in the late Meiji years, and the Agency describes the design as refined and elegant.

The glazed doors on the veranda belong to the same moment. Where wooden shutters and paper screens had once been the only closures, clear panels now let the family watch the garden while keeping out wind and rain.

Between a High Wall and a Garden Fence

Earthen walls 4.4 metres high wrap the north and east sides of the Mogi Shichiroemon Family Residence Shoin. They are dated to around 1905 as well, and it is reasonable to see them as planned with the wing. The south side, by contrast, faces a garden enclosed by a light, decorative board fence. The two outward-facing sides are armoured and only the garden side is open, so the character of the building is written in the way its walls differ.

In the 2018 registration, only the main house and the shoin were listed as models of architectural form. The shoin's registration number is 12-254.

Visiting

The shoin is part of a private home, and neither the grounds nor the interior can be visited. Because it is enclosed by the high earthen walls on two sides and the board fence on the third, what you see from outside is the walls, not the building. Kotohira Shrine next door opens on the 10th of every month, but it offers no view of the shoin.

Please avoid photographing over the walls. Directions to the estate are on the Mogi Shichiroemon Family Residence page.

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Q&A

QCan I visit the Mogi Shichiroemon Family Residence Shoin?: ANo. It is part of a private home and both grounds and interior are closed. High earthen walls and a board fence surround it, so the building itself is barely visible from outside.

QWhen was the Mogi Shichiroemon Family Residence Shoin built?: AIn 1905. It was renovated in 1995.

QWhat is inside the Mogi Shichiroemon Family Residence Shoin?: AThree rooms of 15, 15 and 9 mats in a row from the east, with a glazed veranda. Features include formal alcove fittings, openwork transoms between the rooms and a chandelier.

QWhy is the Mogi Shichiroemon Family Residence Shoin a registered cultural property?: AIt was registered as a model of architectural form. Only the main house and the shoin, out of 18 structures on the estate, were listed under that criterion.

QWhere on the estate is the Mogi Shichiroemon Family Residence Shoin?: AIt is reached by a covered corridor from the east end of the main house's north side, with earthen walls to the north and east and a fenced garden to the south.

Basic Information

Name	Mogi Shichiroemon Family Residence Shoin (茂木七郎右衛門家住宅書院)
Location	339 Noda, Noda City, Chiba Prefecture
Designation	Registered Tangible Cultural Property (building), registration no. 12-254, criterion: serving as a model of architectural form
Year Designated	Registered 2018/3/27 (Heisei 30)
Quantity	1 building
Dimensions	Single-storey timber building, tiled roof, building area 144 square metres
Owner	Private owner
Public Access	Not open to the public (private residence; grounds and interior closed)