A Taisho house inside a castle's third enclosure
The Former Kato Family Residence Main House is a two-storey wooden house in the Sannomaru district of Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, built in 1925 and listed as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 31 July 2007. Its Japanese name is 旧加藤家住宅主屋, written with macrons as Kyū-Katō-ke Jūtaku Shuoku. The building runs about 12 metres by 10 metres, with a floor area of roughly 137 square metres beneath a hipped tile roof, and a gabled entrance porch projecting from the south face.
The address matters. Sannomaru was the third defensive enclosure of Ozu Castle, and the surviving southern corner turret of that enclosure stands on the same plot of ground. Half a century after the feudal domains were dissolved, a descendant of the family that had held this castle came back and built himself a house inside its outer defences.
People in Ozu call it the Lord's House. The grounds carry the same nickname, Otonosama Park, and the Former Kato Family Residence Main House stands at their centre.
The man who commissioned it
Kato Yasumichi (加藤泰通, Katō Yasumichi) built the house. He was the direct heir of Kato Yasuaki, the last lord of the Ozu domain, and his own career ran through the modern state rather than the old one: chamberlain, then master of ceremonies at the imperial court, then a seat in the House of Peers. Ozu later named him its first honorary citizen.
It did not start as a home. When it opened in 1925 the building served as the office that administered the Kato family's holdings in Ozu, doubling as Yasumichi's lodging on visits from Tokyo. Only after the Second World War, with the peerage abolished and the family's public role finished, did he move in properly and live out his last years here.
That sequence shows in the layout. There is formality enough to receive callers on business, and ease enough to live with. The Former Kato Family Residence Main House belongs to a class of well-appointed Taisho-era homes that kept a Japanese skeleton of tatami and verandas while letting glass and Western habits of furnishing in around the edges.
Why it is on the register
The registration took effect on 31 July 2007 and was gazetted on 13 August the same year. Agency for Cultural Affairs records give the registration number as 38-0073, from the 55th round of listings. The criterion applied was that the building contributes to the historic landscape of the nation, which in plain terms means it was judged for the part it plays in the scene at the castle rather than for rarity of construction.
Japan's Registered Tangible Cultural Property system, set up in 1996, was designed to keep buildings in use rather than freeze them. The Former Kato Family Residence Main House has followed that intent closely. It passed from private hands to the city, was laid out as part of a public park, and in 2021 was refitted as one wing of a dispersed hotel spread through the castle town. The wing is named after Yasumichi.
A building that somebody still needs is the healthiest outcome the register can produce.
Look up before you look around
The upper floor is the reason to come. A corridor runs north to south down the middle with rooms opening on either side, a plan that spread widely through Taisho housing because it gives each room its own door and its own quiet.
Verandas wrap three sides of those rooms. What catches the eye is the joinery: where wooden storm shutters would normally close the outer edge, the builder fitted glazed sliding screens instead. Shut the house up and the light and the view still come in. Through the glass you see the keep of Ozu Castle and the corner turret below it. Living inside a castle, executed with the materials and glazing technology available in 1925, is the idea this floor is built around.
Downstairs, look at the entrance. It projects from the south face under its own gabled roof, a separate porch of the kind a household of rank used to greet arriving guests from the front. Between 1975 and 1984 the front entrance and gates were used as a filming location for the long-running film series Otoko wa Tsurai yo, which is part of why the Lord's House nickname stuck locally.
Visiting
Otonosama Park, formally the Ozu Castle Sannomaru Southern Corner Turret Park, is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and admission is free.
Access to the interior has changed recently, and the published guidance has not fully caught up. Ozu City's park page still describes the building as closed inside, which reflects the situation before the refit. In practice a public area on the ground floor of the Former Kato Family Residence Main House is now open during the same hours, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., after which the building is let as private accommodation for the night. Because the two sources disagree, it is worth checking the current arrangement before you travel.
Photography of the grounds and the exterior is unrestricted. Interior photography is at the operator's discretion, so follow the notices posted on site.
Getting there is straightforward: about 1.6 kilometres north-west of Iyo-Ozu Station on the JR Yosan Line, roughly a 20-minute walk. There is free municipal visitor parking nearby, and the Ozu interchange on the Matsuyama Expressway is about ten minutes away by car.
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Q&A
- Can you visit the Former Kato Family Residence Main House, and what does it cost?
- Yes. The surrounding Otonosama Park is open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. with free admission, and a public area on the ground floor of the house is open during the same hours. In the evening the building becomes private accommodation and cannot be entered. Some official pages still list the interior as closed, so confirm before you go.
- Who built the Former Kato Family Residence Main House, and when?
- Kato Yasumichi built it in 1925. He was the direct heir of Kato Yasuaki, the last lord of the Ozu domain, and served as an imperial chamberlain and master of ceremonies before joining the House of Peers. The house first worked as an estate office and a base for his visits home, and became his retirement residence after the war.
- What is the heritage status of the Former Kato Family Residence Main House?
- It is a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in the buildings category, listed on 31 July 2007 under registration number 38-0073. The criterion applied was its contribution to the historic landscape, specifically the role it plays in the setting of the Sannomaru enclosure of Ozu Castle.
- What is the single best thing to see at the Former Kato Family Residence Main House?
- The upper floor. Rooms line both sides of a central corridor and verandas wrap three sides of them, closed not with wooden shutters but with glazed sliding screens. The result is a bright interior with a view of the castle keep and the corner turret. On the ground floor, the projecting gabled entrance porch is the detail to study.
- How do you reach the Former Kato Family Residence Main House by public transport?
- Walk from Iyo-Ozu Station on the JR Yosan Line, about 1.6 kilometres to the north-west or roughly 20 minutes on foot. Free municipal visitor parking sits close by for anyone driving, and the Ozu interchange on the Matsuyama Expressway is about ten minutes away.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Kato Family Residence Main House (旧加藤家住宅主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 848-1 Sannomaru, Ozu, Ozu City, Ehime Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (buildings) |
| Year Designated | Registered 31 July 2007 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 2-storey timber, tile roof, floor area about 137 square meters (about 12 meters by 10 meters) |
| Owner | Ozu City |
| Public Access | Otonosama Park open 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., free admission; public area on the 1st floor open the same hours; closed in the evening when let as accommodation |
References
- National Cultural Properties Database, Agency for Cultural Affairs: Former Kato Family Residence Main House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00006253
- Cultural Heritage Online: Former Kato Family Residence Main House
- https://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/119327
- Ozu City, Cultural Properties of Our Town: Former Kato Family Residence Main House
- https://www.city.ozu.ehime.jp/site/bunkazai/32202.html
- Ozu City: Ozu Castle Sannomaru Southern Corner Turret Park (Otonosama Park)
- https://www.city.ozu.ehime.jp/soshiki/kankou/1222.html
- NIPPONIA HOTEL Ozu Castle Town: public opening hours of the MITI wing (Former Kato Residence)
- https://www.ozucastle.com/stay/miti
Last verified: 2026.09.04