A Gabled Weaving Mill in a Sawtooth Town
The Kobayashi Family Residence (Former Kotake Textile Co., Ltd.) Factory (小林家住宅（旧小武織物有限会社）工場) is a timber weaving mill built in 1948 in Hirosawa-cho, Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture, and registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan on October 7, 2014. Kotake Textile wove fukuro-obi, formal double-layered kimono sashes, here, and the building was altered in 1954.
It is a single-storey timber structure with a tiled roof and a building area of 276 square metres. It begins at the earth-floored Doma of the main house on the west side of the lot and runs east. In form it is four gabled sheds set side by side, each ridge running north to south, all roofed in pantiles.
The Kiryu Chamber of Commerce and Industry describes the four gables as added one after another between 1948 and 1954. The national database phrases it as built in 1948 and altered in 1954. The wording differs, but both place the work between 1948 and 1954.
Why It Was Registered
The Kobayashi Family Residence factory was registered under the criterion of contributing to the historic landscape of the country. The Agency for Cultural Affairs picked it out because its roof differs from the sawtooth type that dominates the city, making it an example of the range of Kiryu's mill architecture.
A sawtooth roof tilts one face of each bay steeply and fills it with north-facing windows, so the looms get steady light without direct sun. In Kiryu it is practically the emblem of the weaving trade. The Kobayashi mill ignored it and simply repeated the gabled roof of the house four times over, building a wide work floor out of ordinary domestic forms.
The direct link to the main house matters too. A few steps took the family from their living quarters to the looms, a layout well suited to a family-run mill.
What to Look For
The walls are finished in sasarako shitami-ita, lapped boards held by notched vertical battens, the same finish used on the main house. With house and mill dressed alike, the whole Kobayashi Family Residence reads as one household rather than a home with a shed attached.
The gable ends reward a closer look. They are clad in vertical boards whose lower ends are cut to points, fitted edge to edge. Repeated across four gables, the pointed hems form a regular serrated line. The chamber's description of the site, a row of gables behind a stone wall and board fence, owes much of its effect to this detail.
Kiryu City counts five gabled sheds on the site and notes that one was left out of the registration. The registered part is the row of four north-south sheds.
Visiting
The Kobayashi Family Residence (Former Kotake Textile Co., Ltd.) Factory is privately owned and its interior is not open to the public. No open days or tours could be found as of September 2026. The chamber's account notes that the mill was no longer in use and that renting it out was under consideration; its current use could not be confirmed.
The factory extends east from the main house and fills the middle of the lot. From outside the property, the row of gabled roofs is what you can see. Photograph only from outside. Directions to the property are on the Kobayashi Family Residence (Former Kotake Textile Co., Ltd.) page.
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Q&A
- When was the Kobayashi Family Residence (Former Kotake Textile Co., Ltd.) Factory built?
- The national database gives 1948 for construction and 1954 for alterations. The Kiryu Chamber of Commerce and Industry describes the four gabled sheds as added in stages over those same years.
- How is the Kobayashi Family Residence Factory different from Kiryu's sawtooth-roof mills?
- Instead of a sawtooth roof with north-facing skylights, it uses four ordinary gabled sheds set side by side. The Agency for Cultural Affairs cites this as an example of the variety of Kiryu's mill buildings.
- Can I go inside the Kobayashi Family Residence Factory?
- No. It is privately owned, and as of September 2026 no public openings or tours had been announced. Please view it only from outside the property.
- What did the Kobayashi Family Residence Factory produce?
- According to the Kiryu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kotake Textile mainly wove fukuro-obi sashes, later added lace products, and gave up weaving in 1976.
- When was the Kobayashi Family Residence Factory registered?
- It was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on October 7, 2014, as number 10-0314, on the same day as the other five structures on the site.
Basic Information
| Name | Kobayashi Family Residence (Former Kotake Textile Co., Ltd.) Factory |
|---|---|
| Location | 1111-6 Fukushima, Hirosawa-cho 5, Kiryu City, Gunma Prefecture, and other lots |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Building) |
| Year Designated | Registered 2014/10/7 (Heisei 26) |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 276 square metres (timber, single storey, tiled roof) |
| Owner | Private owner |
| Public Access | Not open to the public (exterior from outside the property) |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Kobayashi Family Residence (Former Kotake Textile Co., Ltd.) Factory (Agency for Cultural Affairs)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00010105
- Cultural Heritage Online: Kobayashi Family Residence Factory
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/232718
- Kiryu City: Kobayashi Family Residence (6 properties) (Japanese)
- https://www.city.kiryu.lg.jp/kankou/bunkazai/1010700/kunitouroku/1011321.html
- Kiryu Chamber of Commerce and Industry: Former Kotake Textile (Japanese, PDF)
- https://www.kiryucci.or.jp/FT/2013fukei/2013fukei-kotake.pdf
Last verified: 2026.09.24
