Older than the main house, and a fraction of its size
The Former Murakami Family Residence Annex (旧村上家住宅付属屋, Kyū Murakami-ke Jūtaku Fuzokuya) is a late Edo period townhouse, built between 1830 and 1868, in the Shihocho quarter of Ozu City, Ehime Prefecture, and was listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 7 August 2023. It stands immediately north of the main house on the Murakami property, a wax-merchant compound facing west onto Shihocho Street. The building is two storeys of timber under a tiled roof, with a floor area of just 32 square meters.
The numbers place it. Of the four Murakami buildings, the main house covers 165 square meters, the rental house 39 and the storehouse 34. The Former Murakami Family Residence Annex is the smallest of them. It is not, however, the newest: it goes back before the main house of about 1869, to the last years of Tokugawa rule.
Which means that when the family rebuilt the front of the property, this small wing stayed. As the Murakami fortune grew on mokurō, the vegetable wax used for Japanese candles, the public face of the compound was renewed and the older structure beside it went on working. Repairs were carried out in 2019.
Why it was listed
The Former Murakami Family Residence Annex was listed under the criterion for buildings that contribute to the historic character of the national landscape. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as a Machiya that shapes the streetscape together with the main house. The listing rests on the relationship between neighbouring buildings rather than on the merits of this one taken alone, and that distinction is the heart of the case for it.
What creates the continuity is the eaves line. Like the main house, the annex carries a Geya lean-to over the ground floor on the street side, built by the degeta method in which the purlin is pushed forward past the line of the posts to throw the overhang deep. Ehime Prefecture records that among the four buildings only the main house and the annex use this treatment towards Shihocho Street. Half a century separates their construction dates, yet the carpenters matched the technique, and the two eaves run on as one.
The roof is Kirizuma-zukuri, entered on the long side in the Hirairi manner, and covered with Sangawara-buki pantiles. Registration in Japan assumes a building will keep being used rather than frozen, and the fact that the main house and the annex hold separate registration numbers while sharing a single listing date reflects the intention that the two not be read apart.
What to look for
Look up at the first floor. The street face of the Former Murakami Family Residence Annex is not closed off with wall; it projects as a bay window with a railing across it. The main house next door presents plaster and lattice screens at the same height. This one opens. It was made for sitting and looking out, at processions and at whoever was passing along the street below.
The ground floor uses the mae-doma arrangement, with the earth floor set towards the front of the building. In the main house the Doma runs the full depth as a through passage; here it does not. Narrow-fronted townhouses commonly took this shorter form, moving you from street to earth floor to boarded room in a few steps.
Upstairs the space divides into two rooms, and the western one carries a decorative alcove. That puts the Tokonoma on the street side. The Agency for Cultural Affairs records formal Zashiki rooms on the upper floor of all four Murakami buildings: even a 32 square meter wing kept a room upstairs fit to receive a guest.
Visiting
The Former Murakami Family Residence Annex is one of the buildings that make up the OKI wing of NIPPONIA HOTEL Ozu Castle Town, a hotel spread across the old town. The interior is for overnight guests and facility users; there is no general admission. Looking at the exterior from Shihocho Street is free and unrestricted.
Photographing the exterior from the street is fine. Inside it is a working lodging house, so follow the operator's guidance on photography there.
Iyo-Ōzu Station on the JR Yosan Line is the starting point, about 1.5 kilometers to the north: 20 minutes or so on foot, 5 minutes by car. Book by the previous day and the operator will send a car to the station. Drivers come off the Matsuyama Expressway at the Ozu-Kōnan interchange, roughly 10 minutes away, and guest parking is at the Ohanahan-dōri car park.
For the best view of the Former Murakami Family Residence Annex, stand back a little to the south rather than directly opposite it. The deep eaves carry across both buildings and step in height partway along. Continue north up Shihocho Street for the rental house; the storehouse stands behind the compound.
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Q&A
- Can I go inside the Former Murakami Family Residence Annex?
- The interior is in use as hotel accommodation and is limited to guests and facility users. Viewing the exterior from Shihocho Street is free and open to anyone.
- When was the Former Murakami Family Residence Annex built, and is it older than the main house?
- It dates to the late Edo period, estimated between 1830 and 1868, which makes it older than the main house of about 1869. It was repaired in 2019.
- What heritage status does the Former Murakami Family Residence Annex hold?
- It is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure), listed on 7 August 2023 under the criterion for buildings contributing to the historic character of the national landscape.
- What should I look at on the facade of the Former Murakami Family Residence Annex?
- The first floor projects towards the street as a railed bay window. Below it, the ground floor carries a deep lean-to built by the degeta method, so the eaves line runs on into the neighbouring main house.
- How do I get to the Former Murakami Family Residence Annex?
- From Iyo-Ōzu Station on the JR Yosan Line it is about 1.5 kilometers south, some 20 minutes on foot or 5 minutes by car. The operator runs a station pick-up if booked by the day before. The Ozu-Kōnan interchange on the Matsuyama Expressway is about 10 minutes away.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Murakami Family Residence Annex (旧村上家住宅付属屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 379 Shihocho Higashi, Ozu, Ozu City, Ehime Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 7 August 2023 (Reiwa 5) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Timber, 2 storeys, tiled roof, floor area 32 square meters |
| Owner | KITA Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | In use as hotel accommodation. Exterior viewable from the street; interior limited to guests and facility users |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Former Murakami Family Residence Annex (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014694
- Cultural Heritage Online, Former Murakami Family Residence Annex
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/590466
- Cultural Properties of Our Town: Former Murakami Family Residence (Ozu City)
- https://www.city.ozu.ehime.jp/site/bunkazai/66298.html
- Cultural Properties of Ehime: Former Murakami Family Residence Main House and three others (Ehime Prefecture)
- https://www.pref.ehime.jp/ehimenotakara/758.html
- NIPPONIA HOTEL Ozu Castle Town, OKI wing
- https://www.ozucastle.com/stay/oki
- NIPPONIA HOTEL Ozu Castle Town, Access
- https://www.ozucastle.com/access/
Last verified: 2026.09.04