Abe Family Residence Kamizashiki (Upper Guest Wing)

About the Abe Family Residence Kamizashiki

The Abe Family Residence Kamizashiki (阿部家住宅上座敷, Abe-ke Jūtaku Kamizashiki, the upper guest wing) is a single-storey timber reception wing built in the middle of the Taisho era (1912 to 1926) south-west of the main house on the Abe family estate in Kayaba, Sasagino, Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property in 2008.

The Abe Family Residence Kamizashiki runs east to west and covers 113 m², a size up from the older Hanare Zashiki at 93 m². Its roof is laid in copper sheet (Dōban-buki), the only copper roof on the estate.

A Second Guest Wing

The Agency for Cultural Affairs records that the Kamizashiki was attached to the back of the predecessor of the main house. The family already had a Meiji guest wing on that older house; in the Taisho era they added another behind it. A household with two sets of reception rooms presumably entertained often.

When the main house was rebuilt in 1953, the wing was kept. Today its north-west corner joins the late-Taisho brick storehouse, and the bunko storehouse stands immediately to the west, so the guest rooms sit close to the stores of family valuables.

The Abe Family Residence Kamizashiki was registered for its contribution to the historic landscape. The agency notes the calm, settled character it gives the estate.

Four Rooms and a Copper Roof

Inside, two eight-mat and two six-mat rooms are arranged in a two-by-two grid, the plan the Japanese call ta-no-ji after the character 田. Remove the sliding partitions and the four become a single hall.

The roof has a hip-and-gable end to the west and a plain gable to the east, the same idea as the Hanare Zashiki: the east side, which once met the older house, was finished simply, and the more formal end faces outward.

Eaves (Hisashi) run along the south, west and north sides, sheltering a veranda. The east side alone has none, which suggests it was the face joined to the earlier house.

Seeing the Abe Family Residence Kamizashiki

The Abe Family Residence Kamizashiki belongs to a private home and its interior is not open. Fukushima Prefecture's heritage list also states that interior photography is not permitted.

The wing lies towards the south-west of the plot, on the side away from the street, so very little of it can be seen from the road. Directions to the estate are on the Abe Family Residence page.