What Is the Minamikubota Family Residence Main House?
The Minamikubota Family Residence Main House (南久保田家住宅主屋, Minami-Kubota-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is the 1915 family home at the center of the Minamikubota estate in Fukunaga, Yoshii-cho, Ukiha City, Fukuoka Prefecture, and it became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 23 February 2012. It is a timber house, single-storey with part 2-storey, covering 427 square meters.
It is far larger than anything else on the estate, and the storehouses, farm buildings and gates are set out around it. The Agency for Cultural Affairs describes it as a large farmhouse built on a grand scale with long, heavy timbers.
A Large Farmhouse on the Register
The Minamikubota Family Residence Main House was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. It faces east, and its main block runs 24.6 meters along the ridge (Ketayuki) and 12.8 meters in depth (Harima), with a storeroom (Nando) projecting to the west and a toilet to the north.
The Kubota family, who own the house, applied for registration themselves. Speaking to Ukiha City, they said that keeping an old estate going is no small task, but they want their children and grandchildren to treasure a house their predecessors built with such care. The one feature they singled out was the Kagami-tenjō ceiling of the main room.
The 18-Mat Room and Its Mirror Ceiling
That ceiling is what the Minamikubota Family Residence Main House is best known for: Japanese cedar (sugi) boards laid over the 18-mat main room with no battens to break them up, so the whole surface reads as a single flat plane. Covering a room of 18 tatami that evenly takes boards of matching width and length, which is part of what the Agency means when it mentions the house's long timbers.
The roof is a tiled hip-and-gable Irimoya-zukuri in Sangawara-buki pantiles. On the upper floor the walls are Ōkabe, plastered right over the posts, which gives the second storey a heavy, closed look.
Keeping most of the house on one level and adding rooms upstairs over only part of it preserves the farmhouse pattern of broad reception rooms and an earth-floored work area under one great roof.
Where the Sources Differ
Ukiha City's article describes the Minamikubota Family Residence Main House as a 2-storey timber building, while the Agency database records it as single-storey with part 2-storey. This article follows the database. The two sources agree on the year, 1915, and on the building area of 427 square meters.
Visiting
The Minamikubota Family Residence Main House is a privately owned home and its interior is not open to the public, and there are no announced viewings of the mirror-ceilinged room. It stands in the middle of an estate enclosed by walls and trees, and we could not confirm how much of it can be seen from the road. Please do not enter the grounds.
Q&A
- When was the Minamikubota Family Residence Main House built?
- In 1915. It became a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 23 February 2012.
- How big is the Minamikubota Family Residence Main House?
- Its main block measures 24.6 by 12.8 meters and the building area is 427 square meters, making it the largest of the eight registered buildings on the estate.
- Where is the mirror ceiling in the Minamikubota Family Residence Main House?
- Over the 18-mat main room, laid in flat sugi cedar boards. The owners named it when they applied for registration.
- Does the Minamikubota Family Residence Main House have two storeys?
- The Agency database records it as a single-storey house with part 2-storey. Ukiha City's article calls it a 2-storey timber building.
- Can I see inside the Minamikubota Family Residence Main House?
- No. It is a private home and is not open to the public.
Basic Information
| Name | Minamikubota Family Residence Main House (南久保田家住宅主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 160-2 Yashiki, Fukunaga, Yoshii-cho, Ukiha City, Fukuoka Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered 23 February 2012 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 24.6 m by 12.8 m, timber, single-storey with part 2-storey, tiled roof, building area 427 square meters |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | Closed to the public |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Minamikubota Family Residence Main House (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00009228
- Cultural Heritage Online: Minamikubota Family Residence Main House (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/201061
- Minamikubota Family Residence (Ukiha City, in Japanese)
- https://www.city.ukiha.fukuoka.jp/kiji0035115/index.html
- Minamikubota Family Residence (ukihalove.jp, Ukiha City tourism site, in Japanese)
- https://ukihalove.jp/contents/minamikubotakejyuutaku/
Last verified: 2026.09.28
