The Largest Wing, Given Over to Daily Life
The Former Yagi Shoten Main Store Residence Wing (旧八木商店本店住居棟) is a dwelling of 1916 in Hashihama, Imabari City, Ehime Prefecture, entered on the national register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) on October 14, 2021. Wooden, of 2 stories under a tiled roof, it covers 344 square meters, making it both the largest and the earliest of the six registered structures on the property.
It stands west of the reception room wing. The roof is Yosemune-zukuri, hipped on all four sides except above the through-passage, where the ends become Kirizuma-zukuri gables; the covering throughout is Sangawara-buki pantiles. An earthen-floored passage in the manner of a Toriniwa runs east to west through the building and acts as its spine, with the kitchen on the north side and the entrance room, living room and family sitting room ranged to the south.
Four further rooms lie beyond, among them a suite of linked reception rooms. Their alcove post is red pine, the sliding doors are covered in cloth patterned with chrysanthemums, and the Ranma transoms are pierced with the same flower. This is family hospitality rather than formal display, and the Former Yagi Shoten Main Store Residence Wing sits deliberately behind the shop and the guest wing.
Registration and the Role of This Wing
Registration came under the criterion for structures contributing to the historic character of the national landscape, with register number 38-0158. The wing was listed on October 14, 2021, in the hundredth round, together with the shop, reception room, inner storehouse, detached wing and front wall. The value lies in the survival of a complete division of labour among the buildings of a merchant house: trade, hospitality, family life and storage.
Its date sets it apart. The other five structures were built in 1918, so the residence went up first and the commercial and ceremonial rooms followed. The museum records that the buildings took three years to complete and the garden ten.
Circulation earned attention as well. A service door on the east side connects by a passage to a small wicket beside the main entrance, letting the household come and go without passing through the shop. The separation of business from family life is written into the plan.
What to Look For
Go to the kitchen. A water tank was set to catch waste heat from the cooking range, and beside the sink a well of precisely fitted cut stone descends more than 9 meters. Well water at Hashihama carries salt, and the museum explains that most residents depended on communal wells; a private supply inside the walls measured the standing of the household.
Chrysanthemums repeat through the inner rooms, in the cloth of the sliding doors and in the pierced transoms above them. The red pine alcove post has a warmer, coarser surface than the hemlock used in the guest wing. Two grades of timber, two kinds of visitor.
Only one room was built on the upper floor, facing the rear garden. Against a footprint of 344 square meters that single room tells you how horizontal this building is, and standing in the earthen passage and looking up at the beams shows what carries that spread.
Visiting
You see the Former Yagi Shoten Main Store Residence Wing on a museum visit, booked through the Yagi Shoten Honten Museum. Reservations are the rule, the charge is 1,000 yen a head, and the house shuts on Sundays, Mondays and public holidays. Its telephone (0898-41-5101) answers between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on open days. Arriving unbooked may mean being refused, and parties above 10 should discuss the visit first.
Neither the rooms nor the garden allow eating, drinking or smoking. Photography under a room hire agreement is settled individually, so check at the booking stage if you plan to take pictures.
Walk about 15 minutes north from Hashihama Station on the JR Yosan Line. Seto Uchi buses from in front of Imabari Station also serve Hashihama. The car park is north of the museum entrance. This is the furthest wing from the street, so nothing of it can be seen from outside.
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Q&A
- When was the Former Yagi Shoten Main Store Residence Wing built?
- In 1916. It is the earliest of the six registered structures on the property; the other five date from 1918.
- Can visitors go inside the Former Yagi Shoten Main Store Residence Wing?
- Yes, as part of the Yagi Shoten Honten Museum. Visits are by advance reservation on 0898-41-5101 and admission is 1,000 yen per person.
- How large is the Former Yagi Shoten Main Store Residence Wing?
- Its floor area is 344 square meters, the largest of the six structures. Although built with 2 stories, it has only one upper room, facing the rear garden.
- When did the Former Yagi Shoten Main Store Residence Wing become a cultural property?
- It was entered on the register as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) on October 14, 2021, under register number 38-0158.
- What are the closing days for the Former Yagi Shoten Main Store Residence Wing?
- Sundays, Mondays and public holidays are closing days. Telephone enquiries are taken between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the days the house opens.
Basic Information
| Name | Former Yagi Shoten Main Store Residence Wing |
|---|---|
| Location | 406-1 Hashihama Ni-chome, Imabari City, Ehime Prefecture, and other lots |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered on October 14, 2021 (Reiwa 3) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Wooden, 2 stories, tiled roof, floor area 344 square meters |
| Owner | Fujitaka Kosan Co., Ltd. |
| Public Access | Open as the Yagi Shoten Honten Museum by advance reservation; admission 1,000 yen |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties, Former Yagi Shoten Main Store Residence Wing (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014109
- Former Yagi Shoten Main Store Garden Registered as a National Registered Monument, Place of Scenic Beauty (Imabari City, Division of Cultural Promotion)
- https://www.city.imabari.ehime.jp/bunka/info/017/
Last verified: 2026.09.04