About the Ueno Family Residence Main House
The Ueno Family Residence Main House (上野家住宅主屋, Ueno-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is a 2-story Dozo-zukuri townhouse built in 1876 in Matsuyama-machi Muramatsu, Kitakata City, Fukushima Prefecture, and was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on September 10, 2010.
Kitakata is known for its kura, storehouses with thick walls of packed clay. In this house the same method of building encloses not a warehouse but the family's shop and living rooms. With a building area of 313 square meters, it is by far the largest of the seven registered structures on the Ueno estate.
The house faces east onto the street and is L-shaped. A north-south wing, the former shop storehouse, runs along the road, and an east-west wing containing the kura-zashiki, a formal parlor set inside a storehouse, reaches back from it. Kitchen quarters and a former workshop storehouse sit behind, and the miso storehouse is attached to the rear of the workshop.
Why the Ueno Family Residence Main House Was Registered
The Ueno Family Residence Main House was registered as a structure that serves as a model of design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls it a fine example of a large townhouse built entirely in storehouse construction.
Its walls are finished in Shikkui lime plaster and the roof is laid with pantiles. Kitakata City notes that most of the city's registered buildings are storehouses tied to a household's trade or daily life: shop storehouses, parlor storehouses, storehouses for household goods. Here a shop and a parlor share one building, at a size few houses in town match.
The Lacquered Eighteen-Mat Parlor
The finest room in the Ueno Family Residence Main House is on the ground floor of the parlor wing, a single room of eighteen tatami mats. It has an alcove (Tokonoma), display shelves and a Tsukeshoin writing bay, and those fittings are finished in lacquer.
Eighteen mats makes for a very large single room in a Japanese house. To furnish it with the full set of formal fittings and then lacquer them shows how much the owners invested in this space, tucked inside the thick clay walls of a storehouse.
From outside, look at the long street front of the former shop wing: two stories of plastered wall under a tiled roof. A brick wall from the late Meiji era also runs along the street, and the meeting of plaster and glazed brick is what defines this stretch of road.
Visiting the Ueno Family Residence Main House
The Ueno Family Residence Main House is a private home. No public opening or interior tour has been announced, so the lacquered parlor cannot be seen.
Because the house faces the street, its exterior can be viewed from the public road. The wing you see at the front is the former shop, with the parlor wing behind it. Please stay off the property. Directions and the layout of the whole estate are on the Ueno Family Residence (Kitakata) page.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Fukushima
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Ueno Family Residence Main House
- [ Aizu-Wakamatsu Castle & Ouchi-juku Village Tours ]
Q&A
- When was the Ueno Family Residence Main House built?
- In 1876. It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on September 10, 2010, on the same day as the six other structures on the estate.
- What kind of building is the Ueno Family Residence Main House?
- A 2-story earthen-walled townhouse with a tiled roof and a building area of 313 square meters, made of an east-west parlor wing and a north-south former shop wing joined in an L.
- What is special about the parlor in the Ueno Family Residence Main House?
- The ground floor of the parlor wing holds an eighteen-mat room with an alcove, shelves and a writing bay, all finished in lacquer.
- Can I go inside the Ueno Family Residence Main House?
- No public opening has been announced; it is a private home. The exterior can be seen from the street on its east side.
- Why is the Ueno Family Residence Main House a registered cultural property?
- It was registered as a model of design. The Agency for Cultural Affairs regards it as a fine example of a large storehouse-style townhouse.
Basic Information
| Name | Ueno Family Residence Main House |
|---|---|
| Location | 2740-1 Aza Tokiwacho, Matsuyama-machi Muramatsu, Kitakata City, Fukushima Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2010 (Heisei 22) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Dozo-zukuri, 2-story, tiled roof, building area 313 m² |
| Owner | Private |
| Public Access | No public opening announced (private residence) |
References
- Ueno Family Residence Main House (Agency for Cultural Affairs database)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00008248
- Ueno Family Residence Main House (Cultural Heritage Online)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/217630
- Ueno Family Residence Miso Storehouse (Agency for Cultural Affairs database)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00008249
- Ueno Family Residence Brick Wall (Agency for Cultural Affairs database)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00008254
- Overview of Kitakata's historic and cultural resources (Kitakata City, PDF)
- https://www.city.kitakata.fukushima.jp/uploaded/attachment/43016.pdf
Last verified: 2026.10.01
