What Is the Watanabe Family Residence Main House?
The Watanabe Family Residence Main House (渡邉家住宅主屋, Watanabe-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is the 2-storey timber townhouse of Watanabe Sake Brewery in Ichinomachi, Furukawa-cho, Hida City, Gifu Prefecture; built in the late Edo period (1830 to 1867) and moved to this site in 1904, it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on 10 November 2005. It covers 239 square meters.
It is a Machiya, the long-fronted merchant townhouse of Japanese towns, with a gabled Kirizuma-zukuri roof in sheet metal and its eaves side turned to the street in the Hirairi manner. The Agency for Cultural Affairs calls the Main House a landmark of the Ichinomachi streetscape, and with its deep eaves and ranks of lattice it does stand out even on a street lined with old shopfronts.
A House Moved in 1904
The national database dates the Watanabe Family Residence Main House to the late Edo period and adds that it was moved here in 1904. The building itself, in other words, already existed before the fall of the shogunate and was re-erected on this lot later.
1904 is also the year a great fire swept through Furukawa, and Hida City's tourism site describes the brewery's buildings as rebuilt after it. Read together, the records suggest that the family replaced its home by bringing in an older townhouse from elsewhere. None of the sources we checked says where the house originally stood.
The Main House was registered as No. 21-0061 for its contribution to the historic landscape, on the same day as the Pickle, Upper, Middle and Sake Brewery storehouses; its number heads the Watanabe series.
Deep Eaves, a Board Pent Roof and an Open-Beamed Earthen Hall
Start with the street front. The eaves of the Watanabe Family Residence Main House project a long way, and between the ground and upper floors runs a second, board-covered Hisashi, a pent roof carried on cantilevered brackets called Udeki. The two horizontal lines of eaves and pent roof pull the 2-storey facade down and give it a calm, low profile.
The agency also singles out the variety of the lattices. Rather than one pattern throughout, different window grilles are fitted in different openings. From the opposite side of the street, compare the ground floor with the upper floor and one side with the other.
Inside, the ground floor divides into a Doma, an earth-floored work hall, and living rooms. The doma has no ceiling, so its framework of heavy beams is left on view, while the rooms are finished in a delicate manner that borrows from Sukiya-zukuri, the refined style associated with tea architecture. Upstairs are a formal Zashiki reception room and a tea room.
Rough-hewn beams on one side, tea-house finesse on the other: that pairing under a single roof is what makes the Main House read as the home of a prosperous brewing family.
Visiting the Watanabe Family Residence Main House
The exterior of the Watanabe Family Residence Main House can be viewed at any time from Ichinomachi. Standing across the street, you can take in the eaves, the pent roof and the lattices in one view.
The earthen hall, the living rooms and the upstairs rooms are not open to the public. Watanabe Sake Brewery runs a bookable brewery tour, but it does not say which parts of the Main House the route enters. The house is still lived in, so keep photographs to the facade from the street and avoid peering inside.
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Q&A
- What is the Watanabe Family Residence Main House?
- It is the family townhouse of Watanabe Sake Brewery, maker of Hourai sake: a 2-storey timber machiya with a gabled sheet-metal roof and its eaves side to the street, covering 239 square meters.
- When was the Watanabe Family Residence Main House built?
- The national database dates it to the late Edo period (1830 to 1867) and records that it was moved to its present site in 1904. Its original location has not been confirmed.
- When was the Watanabe Family Residence Main House registered as a cultural property?
- On 10 November 2005, as Registered Tangible Cultural Property No. 21-0061, for its contribution to the historic landscape.
- What should I look for at the Watanabe Family Residence Main House?
- The deep eaves, the board pent roof on brackets between the floors and the varied lattices of the street front. Inside are an open-beamed earthen hall, sukiya-style rooms, and an upstairs reception room and tea room.
- Can I go inside the Watanabe Family Residence Main House?
- Not normally. The interior is closed, but the facade is visible from Ichinomachi. The brewery offers a bookable tour, though it does not specify which parts of the Main House are included.
Basic Information
| Name | Watanabe Family Residence Main House (渡邉家住宅主屋) |
|---|---|
| Location | 7-3 Ichinomachi, Furukawa-cho, Hida City, Gifu Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure), No. 21-0061 |
| Year Designated | Registered 10 November 2005 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | 2-storey timber building, sheet-metal roof, building area 239 square meters |
| Owner | Not listed in the national database |
| Public Access | Interior closed (exterior visible from the street) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Watanabe Family Residence Main House (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00004968
- Cultural Heritage Online: Watanabe Family Residence Main House (Agency for Cultural Affairs, in Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/140738
- Registered Tangible Cultural Properties (Structures) (Gifu Prefecture, in Japanese)
- https://www.pref.gifu.lg.jp/page/12417.html
- Brewery tours at two long-established Hida Furukawa breweries (Hida City Official Tourism Site, in Japanese)
- https://www.hida-kankou.jp/features/193
- Hourai Brewery Tour (Watanabe Sake Brewery, in Japanese)
- https://www.sake-hourai.co.jp/inspection/kura-kengaku/kengaku/
Last verified: 2026.09.28
