Ashida Family Residence

Ashida Family Residence

The Ashida Family Residence (芦田家住宅) in Kema, Amagasaki City, Hyogo Prefecture, is a farming estate whose main house, storehouse and barn, built between the late Edo period and the early Showa period, were registered together as Registered Tangible Cultural Properties on November 2, 2009 (Agency for Cultural Affairs). They carry the consecutive registration numbers 28-0434 to 28-0436.

Amagasaki City places the estate in Kamikema, in the northeast of the city near the west bank of the Mo River, a branch of the Ina River. The head of the Ashida family served as a village elder in the Edo period, and the city describes the three buildings as a rare survival of the rural scenery that has almost vanished from Amagasaki.

The district name 食満 is read Kema, and the city refers to the part of it around the estate as Kamikema, or upper Kema.

How the Estate Is Laid Out

From the Agency's descriptions, the main house stands in the northwest of the plot, the storehouse in the southeast, and the barn immediately west of the storehouse. The house on the north side faces the two working buildings lined up along the south.

• Main house: 1931. Hip-and-gable roof of sangawara pantiles, building area 194 square metres; black plaster walls with exposed timbers and red ochre framing
• Storehouse: late Edo period. Two-storey earthen-walled storehouse with a gabled hongawara tile roof, building area 23 square metres; moved in the late Showa period
• Barn: late Edo period. Single-storey timber barn with a gabled pantile roof, building area 69 square metres; open bay along the north side

The buildings span a long stretch of time. Amagasaki City dates the storehouse to around 1770 and records that it was moved on rollers to its present spot around 1965, while the main house dates from around 1931. Edo-period working buildings and an early Showa house thus share one yard. Each building has its own page with its structure and details.

Visiting

According to Amagasaki City, the Ashida Family Residence is a private home and is not open to the public. None of the three buildings can be entered, and the grounds are private. The surrounding streets are residential, so keep noise and photography considerate.

The estate lies about 1.7 kilometres in a straight line northwest of Sonoda Station on the Hankyu Kobe Line, and about 1.4 kilometres east of Inadera Station on the JR Takarazuka (Fukuchiyama) Line. No official guidance was found on photography or on which parts can be seen from the road.