What honmune-zukuri means
Honmune-zukuri is a farmhouse form found in central and southern Nagano Prefecture, especially around the Matsumoto basin, Azumino and Shiojiri. It is a large house entered from the gable end (Tsumairi) under a gently pitched gabled roof, on a plan close to square. The front gable is crowned with a ridge ornament called suzume-odori, the sparrow dance, its most recognisable feature.
With the broad triangle of the gable turned to the front, the house presents an imposing face. The form was used for the houses of wealthy farmers, village headmen and merchants and became the established shape of a high-status dwelling in the region. Some roofs, such as that of the Iida family house, were originally boards weighted with stones and were later re-covered with sheet metal or tile.
Inside, an earth-floored area occupies one side and the raised rooms fill the rest in two or three rows. A formal reception room with an entrance step, Shikidai, and an upper reception room usually lie at the front, with everyday rooms behind.
Reading the records and the house
Records name the form and describe its elements. The main house of the Nakamura family in Azumino, eight and a half bays by seven and a half, is recorded as gabled, pantiled, gable-entry honmune-zukuri, its near-square plan evident from the small difference between the two dimensions. The main house of the Iida family in the same city, ten bays wide and eight and a half deep, has a gabled roof now of sheet iron that was once weighted with stones, and is described as a large honmune-zukuri house of the Azumino area.
The suzume-odori is the clearest sign of the form. The record for the Hirabayashi house in Shiojiri describes a traditional honmune-zukuri exterior with the ornament on the bargeboards, and the Hirabayashi house in Matsumoto is described as a typical upper farmhouse of the area with a sparrow-dance ornament and projecting lattices on its front.
Honmune-zukuri properties often have a gate and wall dividing the front court from the inner court; the record for the gate and wall of the Nakamura house notes that such features commonly accompany honmune-zukuri houses in central Nagano.
References
- 平林家住宅主屋（塩尻市）｜文化遺産オンライン
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/387728
- 平林家住宅主屋（松本市）｜文化遺産オンライン
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/577305
- 中村家住宅主屋｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00005434
- 飯田家住宅主屋｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00005168
Last verified: 2026.09.26