About the Matsumura Family Residence Western-Style House
The Matsumura Family Residence Western-Style House (松村家住宅洋館, Matsumura-ke Jūtaku Yōkan) is a single-story timber reception parlor built in 1936 in Daimyo 2-chome, Chuo Ward, Fukuoka City, and was entered on Japan's register of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on March 26, 2015. It stands right on the street, south of the main house, and covers just 17 square meters.
It was the room where Matsumura Hisakichi, third head of the Jokyu soy sauce brewery, received his visitors, built as a building of its own rather than as a room inside the Japanese-style house. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls the Matsumura Western-Style House a fine example of a house that sets Japanese and Western buildings side by side, a type known in Japanese as wayō heisetsu jūtaku.
How the Western-Style House Is Built
The roof is hipped, in the Yosemune-zukuri form, and covered with interlocking Japanese pantiles, the Sangawara-buki method. Four slopes come down over a compact box, so the parlor reads as a neat, low pavilion. A Western wall topped with a Japanese tiled roof also ties the little building visually to the main house behind it.
The outer walls are rendered in mortar and deliberately left with a rough texture. Unlike a smooth render, the surface catches low, raking sunlight, and every small ridge then throws its own shadow. There are openings on all four sides, so light reaches the tiny room from every direction.
According to the Agency, a pergola once stood against the west side: an open framework of beams for climbing plants, a garden feature borrowed from Western houses. It has since gone. When you look at the west wall, picture the trellis that used to project from it.
The Parlor and the Street
On the street side, the wall of the Matsumura Family Residence Western-Style House runs straight into the boundary wall, and the two form a single continuous frontage. The boundary wall carries the same rough mortar finish. Jokyu singles out this linking of the parlor to the gate and wall, done with the streetscape in mind, as a defining feature of the estate.
Putting the Western parlor at the front, where the house meets the street, and setting the family's Japanese house well back behind it matches the clear split between guest rooms and family rooms inside the main house.
Why the Western-Style House Was Registered
The Matsumura Western-Style House received registration number 40-0116 in the 80th round of registrations, on the ground that it contributes to the historic landscape. The Agency valued it for turning the reception space into a separate Western room, a good example of a residence that pairs Japanese and Western buildings.
At 17 square meters it is one of the smaller structures on the estate, yet its position on the street means it shapes how the whole property looks from outside.
Seeing the Matsumura Family Residence Western-Style House
Because the Matsumura Family Residence Western-Style House sits directly on the street, the exterior can be viewed from the road at any time. The hipped tile roof, the rough mortar walls and the way the facade flows into the boundary wall can all be seen from the pavement.
No public opening of the interior has been announced (checked September 2026). There is no official guidance on photography; if you take pictures from the road, keep clear of passing traffic and pedestrians.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Fukuoka
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Matsumura Family Residence Western-Style House
- [ Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine & Hakata Food Tours ]
Q&A
- What was the Matsumura Family Residence Western-Style House used for?
- It was a reception parlor for visitors, built as a separate building from the Japanese-style main house.
- When was the Matsumura Western-Style House built?
- In 1936, the same year as the main house, the storehouse and the gate and wall.
- What is the exterior of the Matsumura Western-Style House finished with?
- Mortar render with a deliberately rough surface. The boundary wall on the street side has the same finish, so the parlor and the wall read as one.
- When did the Matsumura Family Residence Western-Style House become a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- On March 26, 2015.
- Can I go inside the Matsumura Western-Style House?
- No opening of the interior has been announced (checked September 2026). The exterior can be seen from the street.
Basic Information
| Name | Matsumura Family Residence Western-Style House (松村家住宅洋館) |
|---|---|
| Location | 2-127 Daimyo, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | 2015 (registered) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 17 m² (timber, 1 story, tiled roof) |
| Owner | Shoson Co., Ltd. (有限会社ショーソン) |
| Public Access | Exterior only, from the street; no interior opening announced (checked 2026-09) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties (Agency for Cultural Affairs): Matsumura Family Residence Western-Style House
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010524
- Cultural Heritage Online: Matsumura Family Residence Western-Style House
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/211354
- Jokyu: Registered Tangible Cultural Properties, Jokyu Shoyu and the Matsumura Family Residence (Japanese)
- https://www.jokyu.co.jp/history/property/index.html
Last verified: 2026.10.01
