What tsukiage-yane means
A tsukiage-yane is a roof with part of it raised to create a space higher than its surroundings. A section of the roof is cut up and walled, with windows letting light and air into an upper floor or roof space.
In farmhouses used for raising silkworms, the middle of the roof was often raised to ventilate and light the upper floor where the silkworms were kept. The ridge ventilator, a small roof set on top of the ridge, served the same purpose, and some farmhouses combine the two into a multi-tiered profile. In modern buildings, part of a corner roof may be raised to look like a tower, used purely for effect.
Reading the records
Records name the roof form. The main house of the Tsuchiya family in Koshu, Yamanashi, on the road from Enzan to Chichibu, is noted for a raised third level with a tsukiage-yane on top of the second-floor roof and a fourth level under a ridge ventilator above that, built for silkworm raising. The head office of Kawamoku in Kawagoe, Saitama, formerly the Rokkenmachi post office, has a distinctive corner design including eaves raised to look like a tower.
On site, look for a part of the roof lifted above the rest with windows along its sides; a small roof on top of that indicates a ridge ventilator as well.
References
- 土屋家住宅主屋｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00011497
- カワモク本部事務所棟（旧六軒町郵便局）｜国指定文化財等データベース（文化庁）
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/heritage/detail/101/00000386
Last verified: 2026.09.27