Saito Family Residence Annex

A House for Everyday Living

The Saito Family Residence Annex (齋藤家住宅離れ, Saitō-ke Jūtaku Hanare) is a 2-storey timber house of 1928 attached to the west side of the main house in the Saito family compound in Funatsucho, Sabae City, Fukui Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on November 29, 2016, under number 18-0159. It has a tiled roof and a building area of 114 square metres.

Both floors follow the same simple logic. A corridor runs along the north side, and the living rooms line up along the south, where they get the sun.

The sources disagree on the date. The Agency for Cultural Affairs database gives the era as Showa 3 but lists the Western year as 1870, a figure that cannot match; Sabae City gives Showa 3 (1928). This page follows the era recorded by both, which is 1928.

Why It Was Registered

The Saito Family Residence Annex was registered for contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency's citation contrasts it with the main house: where the older house was built around receiving guests, the annex is a modern Japanese-style house intended for day-to-day family life.

That contrast is the point. The Edo-period main house has a reception wing said to have been built for the domain lord. In the early Showa years the family added a separate building beside it for themselves, dividing the house of ceremony from the house of living.

The layout is practical and modern, with rooms facing south and circulation to the north. Yet the details bring in the light touch of Sukiya-zukuri, the refined teahouse-influenced style, so comfort and taste share the same building.

What to Look For

The official descriptions point to two details. In the ground-floor living room is a transom panel (Ranma) pierced in the shape of an open folding fan. In the washroom, a round window brings a soft curve into a small utilitarian space.

Both are delicate, sukiya-style touches, and it is telling that they were lavished on a living room and a washroom rather than on formal guest rooms. The Saito Family Residence Annex was built for the family, and its details show it.

Visiting

The annex is a private home, and Sabae City notes that the interior is not open to the public, so the fan-shaped transom and round window cannot be seen on a visit.

Set on the west side of the main house, deep in the plot, it is barely visible from the public road. Directions and general visiting notes are on the Saito Family Residence page.