About the Shigehara Family Residence Main House
The Shigehara Family Residence Main House (茂原家住宅主屋, Shigehara-ke Jūtaku Shuoku) is a mid Edo period farmhouse, built between 1661 and 1750, in Obata, Kanra Town, Gunma Prefecture, and it was registered as a Registered Tangible Cultural Property on January 31, 2003. It is a two-storey timber house under a Kirizuma-zukuri gabled roof, entered on the long side in Hirairi fashion and facing south.
With a footprint of 207 square meters it is both the oldest and the largest of the four registered buildings on the plot. The roof is now laid with Sangawara-buki pantiles, but the Agency for Cultural Affairs notes that it was originally covered with wooden boards.
A Floor Plan That Changed Over Time
The Shigehara main house was registered as a model of form, and it is the only one of the four buildings registered on that basis. The three storehouses were registered for their part in the historic landscape.
What earned it that status is the ground floor. Today it follows the familiar four-room grid that Japanese builders call ta-no-ji, after the character 田. The Agency believes, however, that the house began with a three-room hiroma plan, an older layout in which one large living room opens directly off the earthen-floored work area, with the formal rooms set behind it. The four-room grid generally spread later.
The Shigehara Family Residence Main House holds both stages under one roof. The Agency does not say which partitions were moved or when, so the earlier plan is something to imagine rather than trace room by room.
Silkworms Upstairs
The upper floor of the Shigehara main house is used for raising silkworms, and the Agency cites the building as a good example of a sericulture farmhouse. Kanra Town's records describe how, until the early Meiji years, local families reared one spring brood a year; from the mid-Meiji period summer and autumn broods became common and the cocoon harvest rose steeply. The Agency does not say when the upper floor was first given over to silkworms.
The change from board roofing to clay pantiles is also undated. The rice storehouse stands to the southeast and the retirement storehouse adjoins the southwest corner, so the two flank the south-facing front of the house.
Visiting the Main House
The Shigehara Family Residence Main House is a private home and its interior is not open to the public. No special openings were found at the time of writing.
How much of the house can be seen from the street has not been confirmed. Please stay on the public road, keep photography to what is visible from there, and do not enter the property.
- 📍 Plan Your Visit to Gunma
- Find tours, activities & transport passes near Shigehara Family Residence Main House
- [ Kusatsu Onsen & Tomioka Silk Mill Heritage Tours ]
Q&A
- When was the Shigehara Family Residence Main House built?
- The Agency for Cultural Affairs dates it to the mid Edo period, between 1661 and 1750. It was registered on January 31, 2003.
- Why is the Shigehara Family Residence Main House a Registered Tangible Cultural Property?
- It was registered as a model of form. It is a good example of a sericulture farmhouse, and its ground floor preserves the change from an original three-room hiroma plan to the four-room grid used today.
- What is the hiroma plan mentioned for the Shigehara main house?
- It is an older farmhouse layout in which a single large living room opens off the earthen-floored work area, with formal rooms behind. The Shigehara main house is thought to have started this way before being divided into four rooms.
- What is the upper floor of the Shigehara Family Residence Main House used for?
- Raising silkworms. The Agency for Cultural Affairs cites the house as a good example of a sericulture farmhouse.
- Can I go inside the Shigehara Family Residence Main House?
- No. It is a private home and the interior is closed to visitors. No special openings were found.
Basic Information
| Name | Shigehara Family Residence Main House |
|---|---|
| Location | 1445-1 Obata, Kanra-machi, Kanra-gun, Gunma Prefecture |
| Designation | Registered Tangible Cultural Property (Structure) |
| Year Designated | Registered January 31, 2003 |
| Quantity | 1 building |
| Dimensions | Building area 207 square meters |
| Owner | Private individual |
| Public Access | Not open to the public |
References
- Database of National Cultural Properties: Shigehara Family Residence Main House (Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japanese)
- https://kunishitei.bunka.go.jp/bsys/maindetails/101/00003063
- Cultural Heritage Online: Shigehara Family Residence Main House (Japanese)
- https://online.bunka.go.jp/heritages/detail/182973
- Kanra Town Historic Townscape Plan, Phase 2, Chapter 1 (Kanra Town, PDF, Japanese)
- https://www.town.kanra.lg.jp/kensetu/tosikei/news/1syou.pdf
- Gunma Prefecture: List of Registered Tangible Cultural Properties in Gunma (PDF, Japanese)
- https://www.pref.gunma.jp/uploaded/attachment/677575.pdf
Last verified: 2026.10.03
