What the Mori Family Residence Garden Parlor and Wall Is
The Mori Family Residence Garden Parlor and Wall (森家住宅庭座敷及び塀, Morike Jūtaku Niwazashiki oyobi Hei) is a late Edo-period reception building with its adjoining timber wall in the Himi district of Saijō City, Ehime Prefecture, registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Buildings) on 7 August 2023. It stands on the compound of the Mori family, landowners who traded under the shop name Sumiyoshiya, and joins the main house at its south-western end.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates the building to the closing decades of the Edo period, between 1830 and 1868. It was repaired in the later Shōwa era, but the original form survives: a single-storey structure with a hipped-and-gabled Irimoya-zukuri roof of Sangawara-buki pantiles, 55 square metres in area. The wall is timber with a tiled cap and runs 11 metres.
The Everyday Guest Room
The Mori compound offered several places to receive a visitor. The front block of the main house contains a raised parlor built for the domain lord; the detached wing to the east has a tea room. Among them, the Mori Family Residence Garden Parlor and Wall was the least formal.
The plan is a pair of connected rooms: an eight-mat room with an alcove, and a twelve-mat room lit by a projecting latticed window. A nure-en, an uncovered veranda board, runs along the garden side. The Agency's own assessment reads the plainness of the alcove as evidence that this was the room used for ordinary callers rather than ceremonial ones.
Registration came under the criterion for buildings that contribute to Japan's historic landscape, and the wall counted as much as the parlor. Continuing from the main house, it draws the outline of the compound that a person walking the old highway actually sees.
What to Look For
Stand between the two rooms and the grading of status becomes visible. The alcove in the eight-mat room is restrained, without the weight given to the raised parlor in the main house. A single compound lets you compare, side by side, how a household adjusted a room to the rank of its guest.
The latticed window on the twelve-mat side screens the interior from outside eyes while admitting light and air, and its sill sits low enough that the garden stays in view from a seated position.
The veranda on the garden side is left open to the weather rather than tucked under the eaves. Its boards are meant to get wet. Sitting there, a visitor faces the water basin and the suikinkutsu, a buried jar that turns dripping water into a faint ringing note, set in the garden.
From the street, look at the wall. It is the one part of the Mori Family Residence Garden Parlor and Wall that can be seen without joining a tour, and its 11 metres of tile-capped timber form a continuous run with the earthen wall that carries on toward the main house.
Visiting
The Mori Family Residence Garden Parlor and Wall is maintained by the Himi Old House Research Association, which opens the compound to the public as Sumiyoshiya. The parlor's interior can be seen only on scheduled open days: the second Saturday of each month, and the first Saturday in August and October, from 10 a.m. to noon. The site is closed otherwise, and group or off-schedule visits need to be arranged with the foundation beforehand.
Neither an admission charge nor a photography policy is published on the foundation's website, and neither could be confirmed while this article was prepared, so ask the volunteers on duty. When a concert or a storytelling event is held on the grounds, the usual viewing arrangements may not apply.
The address is 658 Himi-hei (Kamimachi), Saijō City. Iyo-Himi Station on the JR Yosan Line is about 10 minutes on foot, as is the Setouchi Bus stop called Himi. By car, reckon on about 11 minutes from the Iyo-Komatsu interchange of the Matsuyama Expressway via National Route 11, or about 24 minutes from the Iyo-Saijō interchange. There is parking on site.
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Q&A
- When was the Mori Family Residence Garden Parlor and Wall built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the late Edo period, between 1830 and 1868, with repairs carried out in the later Shōwa era.
- What rooms make up the Mori Family Residence Garden Parlor and Wall?
- An eight-mat room with an alcove and a twelve-mat room with a projecting latticed window, connected in a row, with an open veranda along the garden side. The floor area is 55 square metres.
- How does the Mori Family Residence Garden Parlor and Wall differ from the raised parlor in the main house?
- The raised parlor was built to receive the lord of the Saijō domain. The garden parlor has a plain alcove, which the Agency for Cultural Affairs reads as the mark of a room for everyday guests.
- Can the Mori Family Residence Garden Parlor and Wall be visited?
- The interior opens on the second Saturday of each month, and the first Saturday in August and October, from 10 a.m. to noon. The wall can be seen from the street at any time.
- How long is the wall of the Mori Family Residence Garden Parlor and Wall?
- It runs 11 metres and is built of timber with a tiled cap, forming part of the historic street frontage of Himi.
Basic Information
| Name | Mori Family Residence Garden Parlor and Wall (森家住宅庭座敷及び塀) |
|---|---|
| Location | 658-2 Himi-aza Kamimachi Hei, Saijo City, Ehime Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Buildings), register no. 38-0174 |
| Year Designated | Registered on 7 August 2023 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Parlor: timber, single storey, tiled roof, floor area 55 square metres. Wall: timber, tiled, length 11 metres |
| Owner | Himi Old House Research Association (general incorporated foundation) |
| Public Access | Open the 2nd Saturday of each month, 10 a.m. to noon |
References
- Agency for Cultural Affairs, National Cultural Properties Database: Morike Jutaku Niwazashiki oyobi Hei
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00014689
- Ehime Prefectural Board of Education, Cultural Properties Division: report on nine buildings recommended for registration
- https://www.pref.ehime.jp/page/3948.html
- Saijo City Board of Education: notice of the registration of the Mori Family Residence and four related structures
- https://www.city.saijo.ehime.jp/soshiki/syakaikyoiku/morikebunkazaitouroku.html
- Himi Old House Research Association: About Sumiyoshiya
- https://iyo-himikominka.or.jp/sumiyoshiya/
- Himi Old House Research Association: Access
- https://iyo-himikominka.or.jp/accsess/
Last verified: 2026.09.05